A Texas-based fire chaplain who was fired after defending women’s sports against the left’s “trans” agenda has scored a $78,000 settlement with the city of Austin, The Federalist has learned.
“Cases like this demonstrate that when you stand up, when you fight for the First Amendment, that cities don’t get away with this sort of thing,” the chaplain’s attorney and Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Hal Frampton told The Federalist.
The case in question centers around Dr. Andrew Fox, a now-former chaplain for the Austin Fire Department who immigrated to America from the United Kingdom in 1999. As described by Frampton, Fox — in a volunteer capacity — was responsible for organizing the chaplaincy program and helped recruit “associate chaplains to assist” with such services. In their roles, these individuals would visit fire stations and go out “to the scenes of emergencies to be with the firefighters after they had finished attending to the emergency so that they had someone to talk to.”
While volunteering with the Austin Fire Department, Fox also led a nonprofit bearing his name that “manages various aspects” of his ministry, according to his legal filing. The nonprofit boasts a website that includes a blog section in which the Christian minister expresses his thoughts on a variety of topics, such as faith and culture.
“The blog is not associated with the Fire Department in any way; rather, it introduces Dr. Fox as simply a ‘speaker,’ ‘author,’ and ‘teacher,’” according to his lawsuit.
Fox’s situation took a turn for the worse in summer 2021 when he purportedly faced anonymous complaints from within the Austin Fire Department about a blog post he authored around the same time. As noted in his suit, “Dr. Fox described [in his blog post] that allowing males in women’s sports contradicts teaching in several Bible verses, such as: ‘The Lord detests dishonest scales but accurate weights find favor with him.’ Proverbs 11:1 (NIV).”
The incident purportedly prompted months of back-and-forth with senior department leadership, including its LGBT liaison. According to Fox’s lawsuit, the head of the department ultimately told Fox that he wanted him to pen “an official apology letter to the LGBT community at the Fire Department.”
Fox allegedly penned a letter explaining that he didn’t intend to offend anyone with his comments but declined to “recant” his religious beliefs recognizing biological reality “because he could not with a clean conscience pretend to have changed his opinion.” The department then purportedly dismissed Fox in December 2021 “to ensure that all of the Department’s volunteer chaplains provide a comforting and welcoming presence and service for any and all firefighters and Department employees,” according to the dismissal (as quoted in Fox’s suit).
Fox subsequently filed a lawsuit against the city and its fire department chief in August 2022, in which he alleged that he faced retaliation and discrimination for exercising his First Amendment rights.
According to ADF, the settlement announced on Monday awards Fox $78,000. Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker also issued a letter (obtained by The Federalist) thanking him for his service with the department.
“I know you dedicated many hours to establishing AFD’s volunteer chaplain program for the benefit of our members. Your station visits, invocation of ceremonies and funerals, counseling, and guidance meant a great deal to many of the department’s firefighters,” Baker wrote in the Feb. 4 letter. “Thank you for your eight years of valued service. I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.”
Frampton told The Federalist that Fox has no plans to return to the Austin Fire Department “in any official capacity” following the settlement but that he “still has quite a number of firefighters who still reach out to him informally, and he’s able to meet with them sort of offsite or talk with them on the phone.” The ADF attorney added that while Fox has “moved on and started a church plant and is doing other things with his time now,” his “door is always open to firefighters in need of care.”
Frampton closed his remarks by expressing hope that Fox’s settlement will send a message to government officials in other cities about the need to “recognize that you really do have to respect the free speech rights of the people who work for you, either as employees or as volunteers.”
Americans’ “First Amendment rights don’t stop the minute they step through the doors of the fire station,” Frampton said. “If we simply allow people to speak freely, that’s what America is all about, and everyone will be better off.”
Austin Fire Department Letter to Dr. Fox by The Federalist
