“Walsh, an accomplished public health expert, was invited to be the commencement speaker for Pasadena City College’s class of 2014. Some students, however, reportedly objected to his selection and highlighted videos of his sermons online and complained to the school about his religious views.”

Dr. Eric Walsh, a Christian public health expert and lay preacher who lost a job with Georgia’s Department of Public Health in 2014 because he believes homosexuality is a sin and evolution is a “religion created by Satan,” settled a lawsuit Thursday with the state for nearly $250,000.

First Liberty Institute, which represented Walsh in the case against the state of Georgia, said in a release that the state of Georgia agreed to pay $225,000 to settle Walsh’s religious discrimination lawsuit.

“I am grateful this trial has finally ended,” Walsh said in the statement. “It’s been a long, difficult journey, but it’s worth it to have my name cleared and to ensure that all Georgia government employees know they have religious liberty.”

According to the Liberty Institute, Walsh’s faith first became an issue in early 2014 while he worked as the public health director for the city of Pasadena, California.

Walsh, an accomplished public health expert, was invited to be the commencement speaker for Pasadena City College’s class of 2014. Some students, however, reportedly objected to his selection and highlighted videos of his sermons online and complained to the school about his religious views. The controversy forced Walsh to withdraw from the commencement ceremony and he was placed on leave from his job.

According to the Pasadena Star-News, Walsh resigned in late May “following controversial comments he made in Seventh-day Adventist sermons posted online. The sermons condemned homosexuals, Muslims, Catholics, popular culture, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and other groups and ideas.”

Walsh, however, called the episode a witch-hunt.

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