As AFN has reported, Dr. Johnson Varkey was fired earlier this year from St. Phillip's College in San Antonio after students complained about being taught that human sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes.
First Liberty Institute has already written to the school and the Alamo Colleges District, demanding that Dr. Varkey be reinstated to his post and that any mention of his firing be removed from his record.
"The college still has not responded to our request to reinstate him, so we have taken it to the federal agency, the EEOC, which governs employment discrimination disputes," explains First Liberty Institute attorney Kayla Toney.
She says the EEOC will likely "take a few months to investigate and to determine whether they're going to take it up or whether they will give us a notice of a right to sue. Once they do that, we will have 90 days to file a lawsuit against the college, and that's our plan."
Toney submits that students were hostile toward Dr. Varkey because of his faith. He volunteers as a pastor at his local congregation and is a "very consistent, very honest man with a lot of integrity and commitment to his faith," but he "never taught religion in class."
"The college is the one that made this about religion, since he was just teaching basic biology," the attorney reasons.
Regardless, First Liberty asserts that no American should be forced out of their job because of their religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, Toney is encouraged by the coverage of Dr. Varkey's story and the response First Liberty has heard from "either current or former employees of the Alamo Colleges System" who have offered their own experiences.
"They have been sharing their stories of discrimination or just an atmosphere of fear that seems to be pervading this college system," Toney relays.
She notes the need for courageous Americans to stand up against employers that are punishing them for their religious beliefs.
"It really does everyone in the education community a disservice when Americans are marginalized or punished because of their faith," the attorney concludes.
AFN has reached out to St. Philip's College and the Alamo Colleges District and received this response:
"As a practice, the Alamo Colleges District does not comment on personnel matters or pending or threatened litigation."
