The U.S. Supreme Court declined on March 10 to take up the case of a veteran firefighter whose employment was terminated after he attended a leadership conference at a church.
Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissenting opinion, which Justice Neil Gorsuch joined.
In the petition, Hittle asked the Supreme Court to overturn McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), a precedent that has long influenced how federal courts deal with discrimination claims.
The precedent describes a multi-prong process. The plaintiff alleging discrimination must show he belongs to a group of people protected by the law. If the employer proves it had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for taking action against the plaintiff, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show the employer acted based on a pretext to conceal the true purpose of an action.
The case goes back to 2010 when city officials received an anonymous letter that claimed to have been written by a fire department employee who called Hittle a “religious fanatic who should not be allowed to continue as the Fire Chief of Stockton.”
About a month after, Hittle’s supervisor, Deputy City Manager Laurie Montes met with the petitioner and accused him of being part of a “Christian Coalition.”
“Raising her voice, Montes told Chief Hittle that he should not ‘be a part of anything like that as the fire chief, and [he] should refrain from doing any of those type of activities,’” and questioned him about his religious activities outside of work, the petition said.
Hittle’s overseers said he should seek leadership training because it would make the fire department more effective. Hittle looked around for leadership training programs but discovered most were out of state and too expensive for a fire agency experiencing budget cuts, the petition said.
He decided to attend Willow Creek Church’s Global Leadership Summit, a high-profile event that in prior years featured speakers like former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and former President Bill Clinton. Hittle and three other department employees attended the summit and paid for the tickets out of their own pockets, the petition said.
A month after the summit, an anonymous letter advised the city that the four employees attended “a religious function on city time.” City Manager Bob Deis and Montes told Hittle it was “not acceptable” for him to “use public funds to attend religious events; even if under the guise of leadership development,” the petition said.
The city investigated Hittle and concluded in August 2011 that he had engaged in misconduct that justified termination by attending a religious event. By October 2011, he had been fired, according to the petition.
The city recounted the religion-related allegations and said Hittle had been president of the local firefighters’ union before he became fire chief.
“His ongoing loyalty to the union while serving as Chief caused him to disregard directives of City management—including with respect to budget and staffing cuts needed to address a financial crisis that would lead to the City’s bankruptcy.”
Hittle “overlooked or defended misconduct by union members, such as misuse of City assets, performance of union activities on City time, and timecard fraud.” He also failed to disclose his shared financial interest in a vacation home with two of his subordinates to whom he “exhibited improper favoritism,” the brief said.
After his termination, Hittle sued, claiming the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by firing him because of his religion. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley ruled for the city in March 2022, according to the petition.
“There is overwhelming evidence that Defendants had legitimate, nonretaliatory reasons for Plaintiff’s termination,” the judge wrote, after analyzing the case using the McDonnell Douglas framework.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in May 2024, finding that the city had not discriminated against Hittle based on his religion. The city was justified in terminating his employment to avoid creating an appearance that it was endorsing religion.
The circuit court found that the summit Hittle attended was “of no benefit” to the city and that he had “failed to persuasively argue that [the City’s] non-discriminatory reasons were pretextual.”
The McDonnell Douglas precedent, “has been widely criticized for its inefficiency and unfairness,” Thomas wrote, adding he was not aware “of many precedents that have caused more confusion than this one.”
“Whatever the origins of the confusion, it is producing troubling outcomes on the ground. Lower court decisions reflect ‘widespread misunderstandings about the limits of McDonnell Douglas.’”
In Hittle’s case there was “ample” evidence that the city officials who fired him had discriminatory intent, the justice wrote.
Even though “that evidence is more than likely sufficient for Hittle to establish a genuine dispute of material fact as required by” the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the district court and the Ninth Circuit found for Stockton, after applying the principles of the McDonnell Douglas precedent to the case.
“I would have taken this opportunity to revisit McDonnell Douglas and decide whether its burden-shifting framework remains a workable and useful evidentiary tool,” Thomas wrote.
Kelly Shackelford is the president, CEO, and chief counsel of First Liberty Institute, which was on Hittle’s legal team.
“We are disappointed with the court’s decision regarding this religious discrimination case,” Shackelford said in a statement. “We will continue to fight for all people of faith whose religious liberty is threatened.”
The Epoch Times reached out for comment to Stockton’s attorney, Robert Loeb of Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe in Washington. No reply was received by publication time.
