AUSTIN, Texas – A former Austin Fire Department volunteer chaplain represented by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys reached a favorable settlement agreement with city officials in a lawsuit brought against the city of Austin for firing him after he shared his religious views on his personal blog. As part of the settlement with Andrew Fox, city officials paid him damages and wrote a letter thanking him for his valued service.
Fox is an ordained minister who helped start Austin’s fire chaplaincy program and served as the city’s lead chaplain—a volunteer position—for eight years. After sharing on his personal blog the fact that men and women are biologically different and his view that men should not compete on women’s sports teams, city officials demanded that Fox apologize and then fired him. ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit in 2022 seeking to uphold Fox’s First Amendment rights.
“Everyone should be able to speak freely without fear of punishment just for expressing a view with which the government disagrees,” said ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives. “Dr. Fox served Austin’s fire department—without pay—for eight years with excellence and integrity, serving everyone, including those in the LGBT community. This vindication of Dr. Fox’s constitutionally protected free speech should give hope to all those who wish to share their voice freely.”
“I’m grateful for my time with the Austin Fire Department and that we could come to a satisfying resolution to this matter,” Fox said. “The attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom were a tremendous help in ensuring that my religious beliefs are upheld and respected, just as I showed respect to the brave men and women serving the city of Austin.”
Fire department members highly respected Fox for walking side by side with first responders and their families and for providing a listening ear and source of prayer as they encountered deaths, suicides, and other tragedies. Most fire department employees were unaware of Fox’s personal blog, but after an employee contacted the fire department’s LGBT liaison about Fox’s blog post about men competing in women’s sports, Fox was eventually fired in violation of his First Amendment rights.
In the letter recognizing Fox for his contributions, Austin Fire Department Chief Joel Baker thanked Fox for his “eight years of valued service.” He added, “the volunteer chaplain program, which you helped establish, is a vital part of our wellness mission to support the medical, psychological and fitness needs of AFD members. I appreciate that the chaplain program serves AFD members best when the program is inclusive of all faiths and viewpoints, while respecting the perspectives of everyone involved in the program.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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