By Rebecca Ellis
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES 鈥� A longtime Los Angeles County lifeguard stationed in Pacific Palisades near a stretch beloved by gay beachgoers is suing the county for requiring him to work feet away from a Pride flag last summer and punishing him for taking three of the flags down.
The, filed in federal court May 24 a week before this year鈥檚 Pride month kicks off, brings the county鈥檚 sparkling coastline squarely into the nation鈥檚 culture wars.
Jeffrey Little, an evangelical Christian who has worked for the county for more than 22 years, is represented by attorneys from the, a conservative Catholic legal group known for challenging rights, the and same-sex .
In a show of support for LBGTQ+ constituents, officials with both theand L.A. County have recently pushed to raise the Pride flag at government buildings. Last year, the county board of supervisors to require that many government buildings fly the Progress Pride flag throughout Pride month.
That included the lifeguard facilities where Little worked at, which is home to a historically LGBTQ+ friendly section known as .
A spokesperson for the L.A. County epartment, which oversees lifeguards, said the agency does not comment on personnel issues or ongoing litigation.
Little, a captain with the county鈥檚 lifeguard division, told higher-ups in June that he wanted to be exempt from the county policy ordering the raising of the , which is a modified version of the traditional rainbow flag with extra stripes representing people of color and transgender and nonbinary people.
He informed them that he was a devout evangelical who 鈥渁dheres to traditional Christian beliefs regarding the moral illicitness of same-sex activity, the immutability of sex regardless of gender identity, and the view that all people are children of God regardless of their skin color鈥� according to the lawsuit.
鈥淭he views commonly associated with the Progress Pride flag on marriage, sex, and family are in direct conflict with Captain Little鈥檚 bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs on the same subjects,鈥� the suit said.
Last June, some of the county鈥檚 lifeguard stations weren鈥檛 flying the Pride flag because they didn鈥檛 have the right flagpoles, according to the suit. At Little鈥檚 request, his bosses initially agreed to give him a religious accommodation and change his shift so he could work at a site that didn鈥檛 have a flag, the lawsuit said.
When he arrived at Dockweiler Beach on June 21 鈥� one of the sites he alleged was supposed to be flagless 鈥� Little said he found the Pride flag hoisted at three nearby facilities, according to a complaint he filed with the county. He was informed that a chief had dropped off the flags and ordered they be flown, which Little alleged was a form of religious discrimination.
鈥淚 was confused [as] to why they were flying as I was under the impression that I would not have to deal with working in these conditions,鈥� he wrote in the complaint filed June 22 .
He took down all three flags, according to the suit.
The next day, Fernando Boiteux, the chief of the lifeguard division, hand-delivered him a 鈥渄irect order鈥� to ensure the Pride flag was flown through June.
The day after, according to the lawsuit, Little was suspended from his role with the department鈥檚 background investigation unit, which investigates 鈥渆mergency incidents鈥� on the beach. Little also said he later received a death threat in the mail at his home calling him a 鈥渇ascist pig鈥� and threatening his children, according to a copy of the note attached in the lawsuit.
This spring, Little asked again for accommodations so he wouldn鈥檛 have to work near the Pride flag, according to the suit. He said the county has not 鈥渟ubstantively engaged鈥� with him and warned him he would be subject 鈥渢o discipline and eventual termination for failure to raise the Progress Pride flag.鈥�
The suit, which names the fire department as well as three higher-ups in the lifeguard division, accuses the county of discrimination and trampling on Little鈥檚 religious freedom. Little is asking a judge to order the county to give him a 鈥渟tanding exemption鈥� from raising the Pride flag and for damages for 鈥渟evere emotional distress,鈥� among other demands.
Little earned $210,000 last year, according to publicly available salary, and also works as a. According to his business鈥� website, he serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Assn., which and is a member of a county committee overseeing.
Attorneys Charles S. LiMandri and Paul M. Jonna, who both have their own law firms and serve as special counsel for the Thomas More Society, did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2021, LiMandri represented a church that was violating L.A. County COVID-19 prohibitions against indoor services. The county agreed in a settlement to $400,000 to the church.
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