A former sheriff’s deputy of a North Carolina town says he was fired because he followed the so-called Billy Graham rule and refused to be alone with any woman who wasn’t his wife.
Manuel Torres, who also serves as a deacon at East Sanford Baptist Church in Sanford, N.C., is suing the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the towns of Siler City and Apex for religious discrimination, according to ABC 11 in Raleigh-Durham.
The lawsuit says he was “ordered to train a female deputy, which would require he spend significant periods of time alone in his patrol car with the female officer trainee.” When he asked for accommodations, his requests were “alternately granted and denied.”
The suit even claims the department once retaliated against him by denying him backup “where a gun was present on the scene,” ABC 11 reported.
An official within the sheriff’s office “expressed his anger” at Torres’ religious beliefs prior to his dismissal, the suit says.
Torres is suing the towns of Apex and Siler because, he says, they refused to hire him due to his religious beliefs after his dismissal.
Billy Graham and his associates famously made a pledge early in his ministry never to be alone with any woman that wasn’t their wife.
Vice President Mike Pence also follows the rule. He said in 2002 the rule helps “build a zone around your…
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