Religious discrimination or punishment for bigotry?

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama federal court granted summary judgment to a county sheriff and dismissed a former deputy’s religious discrimination and free speech claims. A coworker said the former deputy’s personal Facebook contained “numerous anti LGBT and misogynistic posts,” then former deputy explained to a sergeant that he was a Christian first and a deputy second, and alleged that the supervisor then referred to him as “Bible-thumping asshole.” The ex-deputy cannot “simply use ‘religious belief’ as a shield against the effects” of expression “not exclusively religious in nature” that may negatively affect the workplace and cause public concern.