A California sports talk show host who was fired after posting a controversial tweet failed to convince a court that he was a victim of religious discrimination.  It’s a case that puts a spotlight on our divided politics and cancel culture.

Greg Napear was an on-air talk show host for a popular sports radio talk show in the Sacramento region for approximately 25 years. On the evening of May 31, 2020, Napear was at his home watching regional and national news broadcasts that were televising events involving protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., DeMarcus Cousins, a former Sacramento Kings player, posted a tweet on his Twitter account that was directed at Napear and asked him: “What’s your take on BLM [Black Lives Matter]?”  Napear responded to Mr. Cousins’ tweet with a tweet of his own: “Hey!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven’t heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE.”

The following day, on June 1, 2020, the radio station informed Napear that he was suspended from his radio show. The day after that, on June 2, 2020, the station informed him that he was being terminated for cause as defined in his employment contract.  The station maintained that it was terminating Napear  pursuant to paragraph 6(c)(vii), which stated that “the term ‘Cause’ shall be defined as any of the following conduct by Employee, as determined by the Company in its reasonable discretion: . . . Any act of material dishonesty, misconduct, or other conduct that might discredit the goodwill, good name, or reputation of the Company.”

In his lawsuit, Napear alleged that the station’s reason for terminating him was a “false and pretextual reason[]” for his termination and that he was actually terminated for expressing his sincere religious beliefs and political views.

Napear contended he “has been a Christian and a practicing member of the Unitarian Universalist Church . . . his entire life.” He claimed that he “periodically spoke with his co-workers . . . about his religion and his faith in God,” “was open about his religious beliefs and discussed the topic at work,” and “often attended religious services on Sundays, and discussed this fact with his co-workers.”

He also alleged that his tweet was a “personal expression” of his “sincerely held Christian religious beliefs,” that his tweet was “a self-evident expression” of those beliefs, and that “[m]any people . . . including . . . [plaintiff’s] co-workers” and “members of the public” understood the tweet to be an expression of plaintiff’s “Christian religious beliefs.”