• 10
  • June
    2010

In a matter of months, David Coppedge went from leading a team of technical specialists at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California to suffering humiliation and discrimination at work. In early 2009, Coppedge was demoted from his position as a "team lead" on the JPL's Cassini mission to Saturn due to the complaints of coworkers.

At least, that is what he was told by his superior, though he had heard none of these complaints firsthand, nor seen any record of their content or context. This fact was added to an amended discrimination lawsuit, filed on Monday.

Coppedge, who is deeply religious and a supporter of intelligent design, acknowledges that he would often engage co-workers in discussion on such topics, though he never forced his point of view on anyone. However, when he was called in to speak with his supervisor, he was told that fellow employees had submitted complaints accusing him of pushing the topic of intelligent design on others and attempting to distribute material on the subject.

Initially, Coppedge was simply given a warning and asked to stop discussing his religious beliefs at work. Though it seemed harsh, Coppedge agreed and stopped discussing intelligent design with fellow workers.

Even so, a short time later he received a written warning and was demoted to a non-leadership position at JPL. Superiors claimed tension in the lab as the motivating factor in this decision. Though the written warning he received in 2009 has since been erased from Coppedge's record, he has not been reinstated as a team lead.

In the discrimination lawsuit, Coppedge claims that the demotion, and resulting behavior towards him, effectively erased his chances of future promotion and advancement.

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