Fired Sports Broadcaster Sues Over Anti-Gay Statements

Craig James

Former sports broadcaster Craig James is suing Fox Sports in Dallas for religious discrimination over being fired in 2013 two days after he was hired when his employers learned about anti-gay statements he'd made a year-and-a-half earlier while running for U.S. Senate.

James, who was a star running back at SMU in the 1980s, said during the Senate campaign debate that being gay is a choice and stated, "right now in this country, our moral fiber is sliding down a slope that is going to be hard to stop if we don't stand up with leaders who don't go ride in gay parades. I can assure you I will never ride in a gay parade."

Fox Sports Southwest Senior VP of Communications Lou D'Ermilio said, "We just asked ourselves how Craig's statements would play in our human resources department. He couldn't say those things here."

James, whose lawsuit claims he was fired because of, quote, "his religious beliefs about marriage and his expression of those beliefs," charged that what he said during the debate as a political candidate should have no bearing on his ability to be a football analyst. He stated, "I said nothing about my belief system on the air at Fox Sports."