By Associated Press - Friday, March 31, 2017

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - A Spokane Valley firefighter trying to get his job back will argue his case before the state Supreme Court later this year.

Captain Jon Sprague led the Spokane County Christian Firefighters Fellowship and repeatedly sent emails related to the group to fellow firefighters using the department’s email system. He was disciplined for that by the Spokane Valley Fire Department several times before he was fired in 2012.

The Spokesman-Review says his firing was upheld by the department’s Civil Service Commission, and Sprague then sued the department in Spokane County Superior Court. He argued that the department had violated his First Amendment rights by restricting his emails and not other messages that were also not work related.



A judge dismissed the lawsuit, and the state Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, https://www.spokesman.com

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