Pride Flag At LA County Beach Violated Lifeguard's Rights, Lawsuit Claims

LOS ANGELES, CA — A longtime Los Angeles County lifeguard and self-professed evangelical Christian is suing county officials, claiming that a county policy that required him to raise the Pride Flag amounted to religious discrimination — and that he was retaliated against when he refused to abide by the rule.

Capt. Jeffrey Little on May 24 filed a federal lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Fire Department and several lifeguard officials claiming religious discrimination, employment discrimination and First Amendment violations stemming from a 2023 county policy that required many government buildings to fly the Progress Pride Flag in June, which is Pride Month.

Little, a 22-year veteran of the department who continues to work as a county lifeguard, was stationed at Will Rogers Beach in Pacific Palisades, where he was responsible for overseeing lifeguard stations and patrols, according to the suit. The area includes Ginger Rogers Beach, a section popular as a gathering place for LGBTQ people.

"Captain Jeffrey Little is a devout Evangelical Christian who adheres to traditional Christian beliefs regarding the moral illicitness of same-sex activity, the immutability of sex regardless of gender identity, and the view that all people are children of God regardless of their skin color," reads the suit.

After the county Board of Supervisors implemented the flag-flying policy last year, Little requested a religious accommodation such that he would be moved to a beach that was not flying the flag and not be required to raise the flag himself or ensure that others did it, according to the suit.

A few days later, a lifeguard official visited Dockweiler Beach — Little's new work station — and modified flagpoles so that the Pride Flag could be flown. When Little arrived at work to find several Pride Flags being flown, he took them down, according to the suit.

Within several hours, Little's supervisors informed him that his religious accommodation had been revoked and he was ordered to put the flags back, the complaint states.

Little described several interactions with his superiors which he felt amounted to harassment that was motivated by "animus" toward his reglious beliefs, according to teh suit.

"I felt like I was being targeted or entrapped by [Section] Chief [Arthur] Lester and my religious beliefs were not being taken seriously,” he wrote in a complaint at the time, according to court documents. “I believe that the actions by Chief Lester are retaliatory in nature.”

In another interaction, Little described feeling intimidated when Lifeguard Chief Boiteux — who is a 6-foot-4, 220 lbs. martial artist — spoke to Little — who is 5-foot-9 and 150 lbs. — in a "violent and angry manner," according to the suit.

Little claims Boiteux told him that his status as a county employee should be his primary concern in this situation and that his "religious beliefs do not matter."

Additionally, Little claims he received a letter through the mail that stated he deserved to die and included a threat to rape his daughters.

He also claims, in an act of retaliation, he was removed from a prestigious work assignment that resulted in a loss of overtime.