After Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy was suspended from his job by the Washington school district for continuing to pray after games after he was ordered not to do so, the Christian Marine veteran is now striking back. He has filed a complaint against the district for violating his rights to free exercise of religion and free speech.
According to Breitbart, Kennedy was placed on paid administrative suspension by Bremerton High School Superintendent Aaron Leavell after an Oct. 16 game, where he continued to pray in the 50-yard line after the referee blew the final whistle.
Religious liberty advocacy organisation Liberty Institute filed a federal complaint against the school district on Tuesday at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Kennedy.
"[School officials] violated my rights to free exercise of religion and free speech by prohibiting my private religious expression," Kennedy said in a statement released on Monday.
Liberty Institute is now encouraging the Bremerton School District to lift its suspension against Kennedy before they are slapped with a lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
"All we are asking is for Coach Kennedy to be allowed to pray alone – silently and briefly – at the 50-yard line after the game," said Michael Berry, a Liberty Institute lawyer.
In his complaint, Kennedy said he used to pray silently and alone in 2008, but a lot of his players wanted to join him.
"After several games where I prayed alone, some of the players began to engage in their own religious expression near where I pray," he narrated. "I did nothing to encourage or discourage such student religious expression. When some players asked me if they were permitted to pray, I told them that 'this is a free country, you can do what you want.' In time, the number of players who prayed near me grew to include a majority of the team. Sometimes BHS players invited players from the opposing team to join them as they engaged in student religious expression after the game."
