Fox Sports hired the former SMU and New England Patriots running back after his unsuccessful bid for one of Texas’ U.S. Senate seats in 2012 in which the candidate responded to a question about gay marriage by stating, “I’m a guy that believes in a man and a woman,” and urging Christians to “stand up” on the issue. During the discussion of gay marriage, James asserted: “God’s going to judge each one of us in this room for our actions.”

College football analyst Craig James filed suit against Fox Sports in a Dallas court this morning [Aug. 3, 2015] contending religious discrimination for his 2013 termination over his stance on gay marriage.

“Fox Sports fired James for one reason only: his religious beliefs about marriage,” the 35-page suit charges. “In so doing, Fox Sports violated the law. Specifically, Fox Sports violated the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (‘TCHRA’) and Texas contract law along with a myriad of equitable principles.”

The suit filed in Texas district court lists numerous defendants, including Fox Sports President Eric Shanks and Fox Network Groups President Randy Freer. The text of the litigation, along with the accompanying exhibits, proves at least the corporate sensitivity of the case in the numerous redacted sections therein.

The personality redacted from its airwaves by the network expressed deep concern that a corporate entity could fire someone for voicing an opinion shared by three-fourths of the voters of his state in a plebiscite on gay marriage.

“This is very troubling as an employee when your boss holds against you something you said about your belief system nearly eighteen months before you were recruited and hired,” James told Breitbart Sports in an exclusive interview. “I said nothing about my belief system on the air at Fox Sports. So, the fact that they reached back in my past nearly eighteen months and responded to a comment about my biblical belief in natural marriage as a candidate—that’s troubling.”

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