David Coppedge thinks his religious orientation resulted in his being fired from a government agency:

David Coppedge

[NASA’s] latest mission is defending itself in a workplace lawsuit filed by a former computer specialist who claims he was demoted — and then let go — for promoting his views on intelligent design [ID], the belief that a higher power must have had a hand in creation because life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone.

David Coppedge, who worked as a “team lead” on the Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, alleges that he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the idea while at work. — Gillian Flaccus, “Former Employee Says NASA Dismissed Him Because He Supports Intelligent Design”, CNS News, March 12, 2012.

But an anti-ID, anti-creationist group thinks Coppedge’s complaint is baseless:

The National Center for Science Education, which rejects intelligent design as thinly veiled creationism, is also watching the case and has posted all the legal filings on its website.

“It would be unfortunate if the court took what seems to be a fairly straightforward employment law case and allowed it to become this tangled mess of trying to adjudicate scientific matters,” said Josh Rosenau, NCSE’s programs and policy director. “It looks like a pretty straightforward case. The mission that he was working on was winding down and he was laid off.” …. Caltech lawyers contend Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and among 246 JPL employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts. — Ibid.

Does Coppedge’s case have any merit? Possibly, according to a professor of First Amendment law:

“The question is whether the plaintiff was fired simply because he was wasting people’s time and bothering them in ways that would have led him to being fired regardless of whether it was about religion or whether he was treated worse based on the religiosity of his beliefs,” said [Eugene] Volokh. “If he can show that, then he’s got a good case.” — Ibid.

Several other employees in other institutions have made similar complaints over the years about being passed over for promotions or even being fired because of their dissenting views regarding Darwinian evolution.