This case was brought in the U.S. District Court of California for the Eastern District of California on August 23, 2004 by the Alliance Defense Fund ( a legal alliance defending religious liberty) against the California Department of Social Services, alleging unjustifiable restrictions on the free speech and expression rights of a Department employee. Officials in the department had removed from the employee's cubicle a sign that read "Marriage: One Man One Woman" and another; "Jesus Spoken Here" claiming they violated the Department's Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment and Unprofessional Conduct.

About a month later, the court (Judge William B. Shubb) stayed all proceedings in the case so that the parties could try to settle it. They were successful, and on December 27, 2004, the plaintiff agreed to voluntarily dismiss his complaint in exchange for $2,750 and assurances that no reference to the events addressed would ever be present in his official personnel file, that the Department would clarify its Policy Prohibiting Sexual
Harassment and Unprofessional Conduct to specify that an employee is not subject to discipline merely because someone might or does disagree with the point of view expressed by that employee, and that plaintiff would be permitted to place expressive items in his cubicle, including some he had previously been instructed to remove.


Denise Heberle - 08/06/2012


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