Christian Accountant Fired After Refusing LGBTQ Training Loses Lawsuit Against School District

A federal court ruled against a former accountant Monday, rejecting his lawsuit arguing that he was fired by a New York school district for refusing to attend a mandatory LGBTQ workplace training, according to The Buffalo News.

Raymond Zdunski, a former accountant at Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Board of Cooperative Education Services (E2CCB) filed a lawsuit against the district in 2019 after being fired for objecting to an LGBTQ workplace diversity training that he believed went against his religious beliefs, according to The Buffalo News. The Manhattan 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Zdunski’s claims and ruled that he had “failed to point to sufficient evidence” to back up his claims.

Zdunsky told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he was “disappointed with the ruling” but not surprised.

“NY is a liberal state, judges were voted in or appointed by liberals and I’m sure the judges want to keep their jobs,” Zdunski said. “Scripture tells us that we are blessed to be persecuted for His name sake. NY isn’t a place to fight for Christians to be free to live out their lifestyles. The best we can hope for is that the lives we lead, our actions, as true followers of Jesus Christ reflect just that.”

Zdunski claimed that E2BBC launched a mandatory workplace training with a local pride center regarding LGBTQ issues in 2018 and that he requested a religious exemption to attend the training because it would force him to listen to the “indoctrination that is in contradiction to the tenets of his faith,” according to The Buffalo News. E2CCB allegedly refused to provide an exemption and fired Zundski after he missed two trainings, citing failure to comply with mandatory workplace trainings.

A New York district court ruled in February 2022 that Zdunski did not provide enough information regarding his termination to grant his request for back pay, reinstatement and $10 million in damages, according to the decision.

“[E2CCB] did not deprive [Zdunski] of any civil rights when they terminated his employment,” the decision read. “Plaintiff has failed to identify any further facts suggesting the existence of a conspiracy.”

Kristina Heuser, Zdunski’s attorney, told the DCNF that her client’s termination was in “clear violation of the United States Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” and that they were planning to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“Plainly stated, because Ray Zdunski will not affirm the notion that God makes mistakes when he creates male and female persons, the federal courts in this state have held that his employer was justified in terminating his employment,” Heuser said. “On the contrary, this termination was in clear violation of well-established law and we will appeal this case to the United States Supreme Court.”

E2CCB did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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