SHOCKING: City Rejects Firefighter for Being Homeschooled

Sekulow

The episode focuses on a legal battle led by the ACLJ involving Andrew Coates, a Nebraska firefighter rejected for a position due to his hom

Key takeaways

• Andrew Coates, an experienced EMT and award-winning volunteer firefighter, was disqualified from a paid role in Fremont, Nebraska, because his homeschool diploma was deemed unaccredited.
• The ACLJ alleges that the City of Fremont changed job requirement language after the application deadline to specifically target homeschoolers.

Main topics

• Homeschooler discrimination in Nebraska
• ACLJ legal action and litigation holds

Notable quotes

The city decided that's not good enough.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a call to action for supporters of homeschooling

Transcript preview

Speaker 6 (0:00) You're not going to believe this. The ACLJ's new client, a firefighter, rejected for being homeschooled. Keeping you informed Speaker 7 (0:10) and engaged, now more than ever. This is Sekulow. Speaker 2 (0:14) We Speaker 7 (0:16) want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. Speaker 6 (0:25) and now your host, Speaker 7 (0:26) Logan Sekula. Speaker 6 (0:28) Welcome to Sekula. We have a packed show today. This is Logan Sekula. Will Haines here. Phone lines open 1-800-684-3110. We got to start this off. The ACLJ has a new client. You are not going to want to miss this. It's an unbelievable story about someone who is just trying to get a job doing a service that, look, we need more people like Andrew who will be joining us in the next segment on this show. More people who are ready to step up. and do jobs. I don't know, like trying to be a firefighter in their local community. and their job their application is rejected for a reason that likely a lot of your kids who are listening or your grandkids would be rejected for that exact same reason i don't want to bury the lead here okay we're going to bring him on we're going to discuss it all coming up but this is simply because get this what is his diploma His high school diploma, what's it come from? I don't know, a homeschool program. And for some reason, that has disqualified him from being a paid firefighter. Let's not forget that the guy, I don't know, is already, for multiple years, a paid EMT. Passed that service. Has been a volunteer firefighter for a number of years. Went to go apply for the job, and the city rejected it, and we are not going to stand for this. And this is one of the coolest things about this, when you're listening. You know how we found this client? Because one of you tagged me on social media and said, Logan, I think the ACLJ needs to get involved in this. And I read up on it and I sent it to our legal team and I said, absolutely. Let's see what we can do. We reached out and now we have him signed as one of our clients here at the ACLJ, not only standing up for him, Speaker 7 (2:15) but standing up for homeschoolers across the country. That's right. So you will be joined in the next segment by Andrew Coates, who is 22 years old from Nebraska, a really impressive young man who just wants to be a first responder. Speaker 6 (2:27) Nebraska. Remember, this is Nebraska. We're not talking about some state that you think of that maybe really, you know. hampering homeschoolers and don't like that. You're talking about Nebraska. You wouldn't think this is a problem, but again, it's not a semantics issue. This is an issue where they are still specifically going after him. There are, you know, clips that I've seen of people at this, at the meetings when he's trying to get through saying, well, you know, it's implied. And guess what they did after? Because the job requirement did not say no homeschoolers or had to be a specifically state, you know, accredited school. They went back and changed the language. Speaker 6 (3:03) After they denied his request, after the deadline. So not only are we going after them because he clearly was discriminated upon, we are also going to be representing this in a much bigger way to try to protect the rights of homeschoolers. And we can do that with the team here at the ACLJ. Look, this is the kind of work we've been doing for 40 years. And sometimes these still bubble up, but this one is maybe the most egregious that we've seen in a long time. Because again, you cannot be more qualified and you cannot be more targeted. That's Speaker 7 (3:36) right. And we sent yesterday evening a litigation hold letter to the city of Fremont, letting them know they're on notice that a federal litigation can be reasonably anticipated from the American Center for Law and Justice. So they're on notice. We have an attorney on our way to Nebraska right now as we speak. to be there for a city council meeting tonight where they're trying to clean up the mess, so to speak, but it won't be enough, and we'll talk about that as well. But you'll get to hear from the client in the next segment because the only thing that happened here was his parents followed the law when it came to homeschooling their child, and the city decided that's not good enough. We're discriminating against you. Speaker 6 (4:17) Homeschoolers, it's time for you to stand up. Homeschool parents, homeschool grandparents, anyone. who feels like their rights are going to be trampled on because of rules like this. We have a petition right now to help support Andrew and help support homeschoolers worldwide. Go to ACLJ.org slash sign right now and sign that petition. Of course, the ACLJ team couldn't jump into action without you. And I mean that in two different ways. Financially, obviously, because we need our team. I want the best lawyers on this. But also because people like you even kept us aware that this was happening. That is the strength of the ACLJ family, the ACLJ champions. We'll be right back with Andrew Coates. Speaker 6 (5:04) to Sekulow. This story we have been teasing for the last few days. It is something that came directly, by the way, from one of you who tagged me in a social media post and said, Logan, the ACLJ needs to get involved in this. And I saw the story and I said, absolutely, you're right. I got with our legal team and said, let's figure out how we can help if possible at all. And we are joined by our new client, Andrew Coates. Andrew, has a wild story. And for anyone who cares about the rights of homeschoolers, and by the way, I am a homeschooler. Will was a homeschooler. My children are homeschoolers. So it hits pretty close to home when you have these situations where there are people who have spent their lives dedicated, obviously, to service and so many different things, and then they are specifically targeted because they were homeschooled or they are homeschooling in general. And that brings us to Andrew. Andrew, welcome to the show. We have such an interesting story for you to break down because your story, it doesn't have to do with being a current homeschooler. It has to do with what happened after when you decided I would like a career, a career that everyone thinks is one of the most noble professions. Speaker 3 (6:25) Yeah. Thank you for having me. Speaker 6 (6:27) Absolutely. So let's break that down. How did this story start? Because you've been working successfully. You've been working professionally as an EMT, qualified, trained. And then you've also been, you've been volunteering at the fire department. How did this happen? Speaker 3 (6:43) Yeah. So I actually volunteer on a town close to me for about two years now. And then I saw the opportunity for Fremont. opened up and I decided I just wanted to take my shot at it. Speaker 6 (6:55) Yeah. And Speaker 3 (6:56) things devolved Speaker 6 (6:57) fairly quickly. Will, you want to? Speaker 7 (6:59) That's right. So in this story, you apply for the job and then get turned down for a very specific reason. Tell our audience what that was and how you found out that you were not going to be hired as a full-time firefighter in the city of Fremont. Speaker 3 (7:17) Yeah, so I sent, I went to go apply, sent all my stuff. The next, I got a phone call after the deadline the next day from the HR director, and she said my application was being withdrawn because my high school diploma was unaccredited. And I actually just couldn't believe that for a minute because I graduated under a lawful Nebraska school. So when she told me that, I was actually kind of shook that that was the reason I was being excluded from the process. And Speaker 7 (7:52) we also will be talking with our attorney to kind of break down some of the legal side of it as well and what we're doing as we are representing Andrew here. But one of the other things here is that it wasn't just the fact that, you know, they had something on the books that said homeschoolers cannot apply. They actually... changed things after the fact to make sure that the regulations backed up what the HR individual said. So this wasn't something you could have in advance gone and find out. This specifically was discriminatory against you because you were homeschooled. Speaker 3 (8:33) Yeah. I mean, I can't speak to what the intent of the person's heart may have been that day, but it definitely seems like there was an attempt to keep homeschoolers out, especially after changing the job requirements after the closing date of the job. Speaker 6 (8:49) Again, you're someone who is very well qualified for this position beyond this one very nuanced, and I would say ridiculous, as Will said, discriminatory rule set. Because look, We need people like you who are willing to risk their lives in these positions. And I think anyone who has dealt with local fire departments, police forces, anything like that, EMTs, like you, you want people like you who know what they're doing, who are qualifying the situation, can do the physical requirements that are needed. So the fact that we are disqualifying people because of something like this, like you said, you can't speak to the heart, but it feels like a deeper reason. And look, homeschooling is very important to us. And what it sounds like is that. But respecting and being able to protect homeschoolers, even beyond yourself, seems important to you. Speaker 3 (9:33) Yeah, yeah, it does. You know, I was, you know, obviously homeschooled and I know what that's like. And I had a great time being homeschooled. And I just feel like we need to stand up right now, especially if homeschoolers aren't even allowed to work for the city right now. So it's just it's kind of crazy to me, honestly. Speaker 7 (9:52) I know, Andrew, this isn't something that you obviously were looking to get involved in. You were just wanting to be a firefighter, something that you had been doing. You'd been doing as a volunteer basis. And by the way, also, you were awarded Rookie Firefighter of the Year. You have received praise for your job and the job that you do on a volunteer basis. But now that you're in this, you see, I know homeschoolers are... faith are normally very important to us. There are reasons that we homeschool outside of just we know that we can get a good education that way as well. But now, what does this feel like? Does it feel like something that as you take this story to a wider audience, that there is something here that needs to be pointed out to, one, ensure that people in Nebraska where you are, are not discriminated against for the way that they and their parents chose to educate them, as well as maybe even nationally, where this might be happening other places that we need to point out and ensure that laws are applied equally, that people aren't discriminated just because of a legal education that you received and that is recognized by your state. Speaker 3 (11:12) Yeah, no, I agree. It's just, yeah, I think this is a fight worth fighting. And if it's, I mean, if it's recognized by the state, I don't see what the issue would be. So, yeah, no, you were definitely right. Speaker 6 (11:27) Andrew, I wanted to jump into sort of the heart of the story here as well, which is you've decided that this one, you wanted this to be your career path. Why is that? Why is being, whether it's an EMT or a firefighter, why was that? the journey you have been on and why is that important to you? Speaker 3 (11:45) Yeah. So actually, I started in law enforcement, kind of following my dad's footsteps. And he was like, don't do law enforcement. He's like, go try firefighting. And then we actually had, I had a friend at the time that worked for our family business who actually was a Fremont firefighter and still is. And he was like, hey, you should try firefighting. He talked to me about the fire service and really just good things about it. So he just kind of encouraged me to go try fire school. So I did. I went to. Went to go fire one, took hazmat ops, really, really just enjoyed the hands-on training experience. And just really, I fell in love with the