Supreme Court won’t hear case of fire chief fired after attending megachurch summit
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a Christian fire chief dismissed after attending a megachurch leadership event.
In an orders list released on Monday, the high court declined to hear an appeal in the case of Ronald Hittle v. City of Stockton, California, et al., allowing a lower court ruling against Hittle to stand.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas authored a dissenting opinion to the decision to deny certiorari and was joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
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Thomas discussed at length the 1973 Supreme Court case of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, which created a framework for determining if an entity had engaged in employment discrimination when only circumstantial evidence was present.
Thomas believed the decision had confused many lower courts and that the Supreme Court hearing arguments in the Hittle litigation could have resolved these issues.
"Given the widespread confusion caused by McDonnell Douglas, and given the frequency with which courts encounter Title VII cases, it behooves us to revisit McDonnell Douglas and offer clear guidance on how to determine whether a Title VII claim survives summary judgment," Thomas wrote.
"I would have taken this opportunity to revisit McDonnell Douglas and decide whether its burden-shifting framework remains a workable and useful evidentiary tool. I respectfully dissent from the denial of certiorari."
Hittle served as fire chief of Stockton from 2006 to 2011. When his supervisor asked him to attend a leadership training program in 2010, Hittle chose the Global Leadership Summit, which took place at a Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. He attedned the conference with three of his colleagues.
Shortly after doing so, the city fired Hittle, claiming that his involvement in the church-based leadership event while on duty violated his obligations as fire chief. He was placed on administrative leave in March 2011. In August 2011, an investigation substantiated allegations against Hittle, listing the use of city time and a city vehicle to attend a religious event as one of the "most serious acts of misconduct." He was also accused of having a financial conflict of interest with the pastor who bought the tickets to the conference.
Hittle filed a complaint in response, alleging that officials dismissed him due to his Christian faith in violation of state and federal employment antidiscrimination measures.
In March 2022, U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley, an Obama appointee, ruled against Hittle, writing that "Defendants have shown multiple legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for Plaintiff's termination and Plaintiff has not shown sufficient evidence of pretext to survive summary judgment."
These reasons included allegations that Hittle had used city resources to attend the religious gathering, that he failed to disclose a conflict of interest with another city employee and that he did not properly discipline two employees.
"Although Plaintiff is only required to show minimal evidence to establish his prima facie case, the Court agrees with Defendants that Plaintiff has not provided sufficient evidence to give rise to the inference that Defendants terminated him because of his religious belief," wrote Nunley.
In May of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused to hear the case en banc, accepting the results of an earlier panel opinion ruling against Hittle.
