A fired Douglas County School District coach and administrator filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against his former employer, alleging it terminated him for his religious beliefs about a well-known theater production.

Corey McNellis was terminated from Parker’s Ponderosa High School in October 2020 after exchanging emails with colleagues about “The Laramie Project,” a play that follows the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming man.

In the lawsuit, McNellis states that he asked the school’s theater director what recourse he had if he “disagrees with the production,” as both an employee and the father of a student. 

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After staff exchanged emails about the play, McNellis’ suit states, he replied again and “offered to provide a Christian perspective” on the topic; a colleague had previously offered to provide a “social studies perspective.” The suit does not elaborate on what exactly McNellis wrote in his email or if he sent additional emails. McNellis declined to comment Thursday when asked what he said or what he meant. 

According to the lawsuit, the email exchange between McNellis and other staff took place on a Friday. McNellis was then told on Saturday to stay home the following Monday. He was later placed on leave while district officials conducted an investigation. Nearly three weeks after the initial email exchange, he was informed he’d been terminated, according to the suit.

In an email to The Denver Gazette, he said feedback had been solicited about the play and that he was concerned about its potential impact on students. He said he looked forward to a jury “looking at the facts of the case” and that his career had been ruined.

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The lawsuit also describes one email McNellis had sent “as a parent” about the district’s COVID-19 protocols, and another message district officials had received about McNellis’ alleged involvement in a “good ole boys club” at the high school. 

His suit describes the play as “religiously charged.” The production focuses on Laramie community members’ response to the murder of Shepard, who was beaten and left for dead because of his sexuality; some characters reference their religious beliefs.

In an email to staff quoted in the lawsuit, the high school’s theater director described the play as being intended for high school students and older. She wrote that it is “about perspectives, and we would not want anyone in the school to believe we are making a statement against anything other than hate and violence.”

In his suit, McNellis alleges that his termination was both discrimination and retaliation for his religious beliefs; he claims he was treated differently than others who’d also been accused of being in the “good ole boys club” and that he’d had no disciplinary black marks before the email about the play. His comments about the play, he said, are protected by the First Amendment. 

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In a statement, the Douglas County School District said it was reviewing the lawsuit and that it “respects the rights of its employees to freely exercise a religion of their choosing, or not, and has policies in place that prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion.”

The lawsuit was filed against the district and against Cathy Franklin, its human resources director.

The lawsuit is the latest to be levied against the district in recent months. The school board is facing its own suit over allegations that it violated the state’s open meetings law in the run-up to its termination of its former superintendent. The district has also been dragged into court over its refusal to turn over certain records.