Public Works Employee Sues LACo Over LGBT Pride Flag

A Los Angeles County civil engineer is suing the county for refusing to let him work from home in June, when the LGBT Pride flag will be flown from the building where he works, according to court papers obtained Wednesday.

Eric Batman, an employee of the county’s Department of Public Works for 24 years, “cannot participate in a celebration that his religion deems sinful,” his lawyers wrote in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.

Batman describes himself as a Christian “who holds sincerely held religious beliefs, based on the Bible, concerning sexuality, marriage, the family, and God’s created order of male and female,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiff contends he was unlawfully denied a religious accommodation to work from home in June in order to avoid tacitly endorsing the flag at his workplace during Pride Month in June.

Lawyers for Batman wrote that the county has allowed other religious employees to work remotely for other reasons, such as Ramadan, but is discriminating against Batman for his conservative beliefs.

A county spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted policies in 2023 requiring all county departments to fly the “Progress Pride Flag” throughout June and explore ways to recognize Pride Month.

In response, Public Works began displaying the flag at its headquarters in Alhambra. In 2023, Batman successfully worked remotely in June during building construction, but was denied a religious accommodation to work remotely in both 2024 and 2025, according to the suit.

Batman contends that county officials told him that his request conflicted with the county’s “inclusive and welcoming environment for all.” Instead of working remotely, officials suggested he simply use the “back door” or seek “mental health counseling” if the Pride flag caused him distress, Batman stated.

Batman said he received the suggestion that his religious beliefs about human sexuality “may need counseling” as being overtly hostile toward his religion.

The county “provided neither accommodation nor tolerance of Batman’s religious beliefs,” according to the lawsuit. “Rather, they displayed overt hostility towards Batman by refusing to provide him an accommodation the law plainly requires.”

The suit seeks a ruling blocking Batman’s allegedly unconstitutional denial of remote work which he contends is unlawful under Title VII, the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Currently a part-time remote employee, Batman was promoted to senior civil engineer in 2015, and supervises the county’s flood-control and stormwater facilities, his lawyers said.