Page "Jet Propulsion Laboratory" Paragraph 61

On March 12, 2012, Los Angeles Superior Court took opening statements on the case in which former-JPL employee David Coppedge brought suit against the Lab due to workplace discrimination and wrongful termination.

In the suit, Coppedge alleges that he first lost his " team lead " status on JPL's Cassini-Huygens mission in 2009 and then was fired in 2011 because of his evangelical Christian beliefs and specifically his belief in intelligent design.

Conversely, JPL, through the Caltech lawyers representing the laboratory, allege that Coppedge's termination was simply due to budget cuts and his demotion from team lead was because of harassment complaints and from on-going conflicts with his co-workers.