LA County looked a 20-year fire department veteran in the eye and told him his religious beliefs didn't matter.
They granted his accommodation – then yanked it two days later.
Now a federal judge has ruled Captain Jeffrey Little's case goes to trial, and LA County is about to learn what happens when you punish a Christian for acting like one.
The Accommodation That Lasted 48 Hours
Little had served the LA County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division for more than two decades when the county adopted a 2023 policy requiring the Progress Pride flag to fly at all county facilities every June.
As a devout Christian, Little believed the flag contradicted his faith on marriage and sexuality.
He went through the proper channels, filed for a religious accommodation, and the county granted it.
Then two days later they took it back.
His attorney, Paul Jonna of the Thomas More Society, told Fox News that Little took down several flags under the reasonable belief his accommodation was still active – and that some stations weren't required to fly the flag anyway because they lacked the proper hardware under the county's own rules.
The county suspended him for 15 days without pay.
The Double Standard That Could Cost LA Taxpayers Millions
Here's what makes this lawsuit dangerous for LA County.
Other lifeguards reportedly vandalized and desecrated the very same flag during the same period.
They either faced zero discipline or received shorter suspensions than Little – the man who filed the paperwork, followed the process, and asked for the accommodation the law specifically protects.
Jonna also alleges that Lifeguard Division Chief Fernando Boiteux told Little his "religious beliefs don't matter."
The county disputes that claim.
A jury will now decide who's telling the truth.
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Last week's ruling granted part of Little's motions and denied part of the county's bid to dismiss the case – meaning a federal judge reviewed the evidence and found it strong enough to put before a jury.
Trump Changed the Rules and LA County Didn't Get the Memo
This is where LA County's legal team should be having serious conversations right now.
In 2023 the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Groff v. DeJoy that rewrote the rules on religious accommodation.
For nearly 50 years employers could reject religious accommodation requests if they caused even a minor inconvenience.
The Supreme Court threw that standard out.
Under the new rule, an employer must show that granting the accommodation would create substantial increased costs for the business.
Letting a senior fire captain avoid personally raising a flag creates zero substantial cost.
On top of that, Trump signed Executive Order 14202 in February 2025 specifically to end what he called the anti-Christian weaponization of government – and established a Justice Department task force under Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue exactly this kind of case.
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Little isn't asking LA County to take down its Pride flags.
He's asking not to be the one personally raising them.
LA County suspended him for 15 days anyway.
The Thomas More Society doesn't take cases it expects to lose, and the taxpayers of Los Angeles County will be writing the check when this is over – because a bureaucrat decided a veteran's faith didn't count.
Sources:
- Kristine Parks, "Christian lifeguard who refused pride flag duties and was suspended is now headed toward trial," Fox News, May 25, 2026.
- Supreme Court of the United States, Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447 (2023).
- White House, Executive Order 14202, "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias," February 6, 2025.
- Thomas More Society, thomasmoresociety.org.