New York court rules against worker fired for refusing LGBT trainings

A federal appeals court rejected the case of a man who lost his job in 2018 for failing to attend LGBTQ training that was mandatory at what was his workplace for seven years.

Raymond Zdunski was fired from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus, New York, just one week after being promoted, for refusing to participate in a training session on the LGBTQ community.

The man explained that he is a devout Christian and that the training went against his religious beliefs about gender and sexuality, but BOCES denied his request for religious accommodations.

Zdunski sought to be reinstated in a lawsuit that also sought $10 million in damages, but a year ago a judge dismissed the case, agreeing with the public organization that provides educational services. BOCES contends the man should have attended the mandatory program aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace. Zdunski attempted to appeal, but the Manhattan-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed with the first judge's decision.

"It just seems like the country is against the Christian way of life, and it's for everything else (...) We're not allowed to practice our way of life but anyone else can, it seems," opined the former BOCES worker.

Zdunski's attorney, Kristina S. Heuser, said they will not stand by the rulings of the lower courts. "We will seek redress from the U.S. Supreme Court," she said, stressing that her client's rights were violated "for no other reason than his refusal to be indoctrinated with anti-biblical teaching."

"He worked on spreadsheets in a cubicle. The training was not even remotely related to the requirements of his job. The left will stop at nothing to force their ideology upon everyone, including stripping people of their livelihood if they do not submit to their beliefs," she said.