LOS ANGELES (AP) — A computer specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is going to court over allegations that he was wrongfully terminated because of his belief in intelligent design.

Opening statements in the lawsuit by David Coppedge were expected to start Tuesday morning in Los Angeles Superior Court after lawyers spent Monday arguing several pretrial motions.

Coppedge, who worked as a team lead on the Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, claims he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the idea while at work.

Intelligent design is the belief that a higher power must have had a hand in creation because life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone.

Coppedge lost his team lead title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on the mission.

In an emailed statement, JPL dismissed Coppedge's claims. In court papers, lawyers for the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, said Coppedge received a written warning because his co-workers complained of harassment.

They also said Coppedge lost his team lead status because of ongoing conflicts with others.

Caltech lawyers contend Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and among 246 JPL employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts.

The case has generated interest among supporters of intelligent design. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge's case.

The National Center for Science Education, which rejects intelligent design as thinly veiled creationism, is also watching the case and has posted all the legal filings on its website.

Coppedge's attorney, William Becker, contends his client was singled out by his bosses because they perceived his belief in intelligent design to be religious. Coppedge had a reputation around JPL as an evangelical Christian, and interactions with co-workers led some to label him as a Christian conservative, Becker said.

In the lawsuit, Coppedge says he believes other things also led to his demotion, including his support for a state ballot measure that sought to define marriage as limited to heterosexual couples and his request to rename the annual holiday party a Christmas party.

Coppedge is seeking attorney's fees and costs, damages for wrongful termination and a statement from the judge that his rights were violated, said Becker.



haha, good... don't need that nonsense at/in NASA....

Instead of antigravity booster rockets the solution can be found in the lint left in our pockets.

He was doing ludes in the toilet and should just let go.

He shouldn't be proselytizing on the job especially on a government job.

It is part of his employment agreement that he wouldn't bring his religion to work.

Sadly,

it is hard to prove that his belief was the reason he was 'fired'

there are a whole slew of legitimate 'reasons' mentioned in the op and with it being an employers world , they can claim anyone of them to avoid a wrongful termination conviction

words like

harassment and 'conflict' with others

and the fact that he received a 'warning' also stacks the deck against him,,,,


.,,he has to start over like the rest of us struggling folks of age,,it sucks, but he is in good company and maybe he has networked with enough people to give him that upper hand in finding something quickly

Another GOOD reason NOT to nominate InSantorum!

There is good reason for the separation of church and state.

Personal choice has no place in decision making governing a whole!

I could just be that someone looked at the design and said, "This is all kinds of messed up... If you do the rest of your work along these lines, we're going to have to let you go."

Well thats what happens when one person who believes that everything was created over 6,000 years ago in 6 days is around a bunch of people who believe it took billions of years and water.He tried to convert the unconvertable.

did the op say thats what he believed,,, just curious,,,

Im christian and believe in intelligent design and I dont profess to know how old the earth is, let alone believe it is thousands or billions of years old

Respect is a two way street. Honorable when not imposed, impressive of faith and will to accept and acknowledge a different opinion or belief belonging to another.

Creationism or evolution? Religion or atheism? What does it matter the beliefs of another? It does no harm until imposed as fact and implied as principal, then it imposes on another depriving them of their rights.

There are exceptions. Public forums, churches, rented spaces, meetups, etc.. On the job, in law, in public, it is best left untouched to avoid conflict with the rights of others.

Look at the latest abortion/contraception issue. When a personal choice of some is imposed on the many it is not democracy, it is oligarchy.

Smoking laws
abortion
obamacare
individual mandates
gay rights
seatbelts
drug laws

This is the current form of government we endure.

That said, it's time for me to go prone until the pain reduces.

Later people

To believe in intelligent design is to ignore the fundamentals of evolution. Trying to make some case for a metaphysical connection where god used evolution to create the world ignores what it means for a mutation to be random, it pretends random, and design can be the same thing, hint: they cant.

'personal' choice is a misnomer when its an action that has an affect on someone elses choice....

thus, smoking laws, laws about abortion, laws about ability to pay for healthcare, etc,,,

are more about common consideration for others than it is oligarchy

any of those religious conservs....IMO... the only reason i give obummer any respect is because he leaves religion out of politics, for the most part anyway...

darmned if you do
darmned if you don't



can't work at NASA if you believe in stupid design
can't work at NASA if you believe in intelligent design either!

that's why they should worry about quantum physics rather than some fantasy...fantasy's are for at home, not at work... unless you write comic books, or a video game maker...