Fired Deputy Cites Billy Graham Rule as Reason for Firing
In a federal lawsuit filed last week, former North Carolina sheriff’s deputy Manuel Torres says he was fired while trying to practice his Christian faith. Torres, 51, says the Lee County Sheriff’s Office terminated his employment because he refused to train a woman—a task, the suit states, that would have involved spending “significant amounts of time alone in his patrol car with the female officer trainee.”
According to the lawsuit, filed July 31 in U.S. District Court, “Torres holds the strong and sincere religious belief that the Holy Bible prohibits him, as a married man, from being alone for extended periods with a female who is not his wife.” Training a female deputy “violates [Torres’] religious beliefs” and leaves “the appearance of sinful conduct on his part,” it adds.
Torres, who has served as a deacon at East Sanford Baptist Church in Sanford, North Carolina, says he adheres to the...
