Christian man sues employer for forcing him to see a Pride flag on his way into work

Eric Batman claims L.A.’s Department of Public Works violated his constitutional rights by making him come to work during Pride Month.

A conservative Christian man is suing Los Angeles County and the L.A. Department of Public Works for making him come to work during Pride Month.

Department of Public Works employee Eric Batman claims that having to see a Progress Pride flag flying outside the department’s Alhambra, California, headquarters during the month of June effectively forces him to “celebrate, recognize, and solemnize conduct and actions that he views as sin” in conflict with his sincerely held Christian religious beliefs, according to a lawsuit filed in March by anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical nonprofit the Liberty Counsel.

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As the complaint notes, Batman has worked for the department for 24 years, and at its Alhambra headquarters since 2003. Since 2023, L.A. County has required all county departments to fly the Progress Pride flag during the month of June.

In 2024 and 2025, Batman formally requested a religious accommodation allowing him to work remotely in June, claiming that requiring him to be present in the office “for the County’s explicit and overt celebration of so-called Pride Month” conflicts with his Christian beliefs. Both requests were denied, as were follow-up grievance forms Batman filed with the Department of Employee Relations.

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In his 2024 grievance, Batman wrote that having to see the Progress Pride flag each time he enters and exits the building “negatively impacts my ability [to] perform my work and results in a hostile work environment.”

In both 2024 and 2025, the department suggested Batman use the building’s rear entrance to avoid seeing the flag and that he seek counseling for any distress he might experience. According to the complaint, the department’s recommendations “suggested to Batman that his religious beliefs required mental health counseling rather than accommodation” and “relegate him to ‘separate but equal’ facilities.”

The lawsuit also compares Batman’s request for religious accommodation to others approved by the department that allow Muslim employees to work remotely during Ramadan.

In a May 30 fundraising message, Liberty Counsel claimed that in suggesting Batman seek counseling, the department had declared “his Christian beliefs to be a mental illness,” a claim made nowhere in the lawsuit. The anti-LGBTQ+ group also claimed that “the County required its employees to participate in overt workplace LGBTQ ‘Pride’ celebrations during the month of June.” However, the lawsuit cites no instance in which Batman was forced to do anything other than come to work while a Pride flag flew outside department headquarters.

Batman’s lawsuit accuses L.A. County and the Department of Public Works of religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Free Speech clauses, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“The Constitution does not allow the government — or a government employer — to put citizens in the impossible position of choosing between their conscience and their livelihood,” Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver said in a statement, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Batman is seeking a court order declaring that the county violated his rights, along with unspecified damages, according to the outlet.

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