Blake
04-18-2012, 08:43 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) —A former computer specialist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory spent much of his free time advocating for the idea that a higher intelligence must have had a hand in creation. Now, a judge will decide if his commitment to that belief cost him his job.
Closing arguments in the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by David Coppedge against Pasadena-based JPL began Monday after a five-week trial that generated intense interest among proponents of intelligent design —the idea that life is too complex to have evolved through evolution alone.
The case will be decided by Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige after both sides agreed to forgo a jury. Coppedge, an evangelical Christian who worked on NASA's Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, claims he was demoted then let go for promoting his views. The former team leader alleges he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the topic while at work.
Coppedge lost his team leader title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on the mission. Coppedge was called to a meeting with a supervisor on March 2, 2009, and told to "stop pushing your religion," his attorney William Becker said in his closing argument.
The supervisor later claimed he was trying to help Coppedge, but Becker said the statement smacked of religious intolerance. "Imagine if employees were told, stop pushing your gay agenda or stop pushing your feminist agenda, your civil rights agenda?" Becker said. "This is just another way that ... shows it's prejudice and it's another shifting explanation to provide cover."
....more:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6LNkssgN5mLjjexBA0xPMSFGMRA?docId=023649cd1 cba4a8a8592fa9df6c78d35
Closing arguments in the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by David Coppedge against Pasadena-based JPL began Monday after a five-week trial that generated intense interest among proponents of intelligent design —the idea that life is too complex to have evolved through evolution alone.
The case will be decided by Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige after both sides agreed to forgo a jury. Coppedge, an evangelical Christian who worked on NASA's Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, claims he was demoted then let go for promoting his views. The former team leader alleges he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the topic while at work.
Coppedge lost his team leader title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on the mission. Coppedge was called to a meeting with a supervisor on March 2, 2009, and told to "stop pushing your religion," his attorney William Becker said in his closing argument.
The supervisor later claimed he was trying to help Coppedge, but Becker said the statement smacked of religious intolerance. "Imagine if employees were told, stop pushing your gay agenda or stop pushing your feminist agenda, your civil rights agenda?" Becker said. "This is just another way that ... shows it's prejudice and it's another shifting explanation to provide cover."
....more:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6LNkssgN5mLjjexBA0xPMSFGMRA?docId=023649cd1 cba4a8a8592fa9df6c78d35