[D66] NASA faces 'intelligent design' lawsuit from scientist

[Henk Elegeert]

Leuk,

... we krijgen weer een kansloze missie van een 'intelligent design'
gelovige. :)


NASA faces 'intelligent design' lawsuit from
scientist<http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/03/12/nasa-intelligent-design-lawsuit.html>
The Associated Press Posted: Mar 12, 2012

3 AM ET *Read 91**comments**91*<http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/03/12/nasa-intelligent-design-lawsuit.html#socialcomments>

Related StoriesBACKGROUNDER | Intelligent
design<http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/intelligentdesign/>CBC
ARCHIVES | Explaining
evolution<http://archives.cbc.ca/society/religion_spirituality/clips/16488/>
[image: In this file photo, David Coppedge, left, is shown outside Los
Angeles Superior Court with his attorney, William Becker. Coppedge's
lawsuit alleging alleging improper dismissal against NASA begins Monday in
Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)]*In this file photo, David Coppedge, left,
is shown outside Los Angeles Superior Court with his attorney, William
Becker. Coppedge's lawsuit alleging alleging improper dismissal against
NASA begins Monday in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)* *(Nick Ut/Associated
Press)*

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has landed robotic explorers on the
surface of Mars, sent probes to outer planets and operates a worldwide
network of antennas that communicates with interplanetary spacecraft.

Its latest mission is defending itself in a workplace lawsuit filed by a
former computer specialist who claims he was demoted — and then let go —
for promoting his views on intelligent design, the belief that a higher
power must have had a hand in creation because life is too complex to have
developed through evolution alone.

David Coppedge, who worked as a "team lead" on the Cassini mission
exploring Saturn and its many moons, alleges that he was discriminated
against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about
intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the idea while at work. Coppedge
lost his team lead title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on
the mission.

Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior
Court after two years of legal wrangling in a case that has generated
interest among supporters of intelligent design. The Alliance Defence Fund,
a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of
intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge's case.

*'There is basically a war on anyone who dissents from Darwin.'**—John
West, Discovery Institute*

"It's part of a pattern. There is basically a war on anyone who dissents
from Darwin and we've seen that for several years," said John West,
associate director of the Centre for Science and Culture at the
Seattle-based Discovery Institute. "This is free speech, freedom of
conscience 101."

The National Centre for Science Education, which rejects intelligent design
as thinly veiled creationism, is also watching the case and has posted all
the legal filings on its website.

"It would be unfortunate if the court took what seems to be a fairly
straightforward employment law case and allowed it to become this tangled
mess of trying to adjudicate scientific matters," said Josh Rosenau, NCSE's
programs and policy director. "It looks like a pretty straightforward case.
The mission that he was working on was winding down and he was laid off."
Claims religious discrimination

Coppedge's attorney, William Becker, says his client was singled out by his
bosses because they perceived his belief in intelligent design to be
religious. Coppedge had a reputation around JPL as an evangelical Christian
and other interactions with co-workers led some to label him as a Christian
conservative, Becker said.

In the lawsuit, Coppedge says he believes other things also led to his
demotion, including his support for a state ballot measure that sought to
define marriage as limited to heterosexual couples and his request to
rename the annual holiday party a "Christmas party."

"David had this reputation for being a Christian, for being a practising
one. He did not go around evangelizing or proselytizing. But if he found
out that someone was a Christian he would say, 'Oh that's interesting, what
denomination are you?"' Becker said.

"He's not apologizing for who he is. He's an evangelical Christian."
Lab claims co-workers harassed

In an emailed statement, JPL dismissed Coppedge's claims. In court papers,
lawyers for the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for
NASA, said Coppedge received a written warning because his co-workers
complained of harassment. They also said Coppedge lost his "team lead"
status because of conflicts with others.

Caltech lawyers contend Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and
among 246 JPL employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts.

While the case has attracted interest because of the controversial nature
of intelligent design, it is at its heart a straightforward discrimination
case, said Eugene Volokh, a professor of First Amendment law at the
University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

"The question is whether the plaintiff was fired simply because he was
wasting people's time and bothering them in ways that would have led him to
being fired regardless of whether it was about religion or whether he was
treated worse based on the religiosity of his beliefs," said Volokh. "If he
can show that, then he's got a good case."

Coppedge, who began working for JPL as a contractor in 1996 and was hired
in 2003, is active in the intelligent design sphere and runs a website that
interprets scientific discoveries through the lens of intelligent design.
His father authored an anti-evolution book and founded a Christian outreach
group.

He is also a board member for Illustra Media, a company that produces video
documentaries examining the scientific evidence for intelligent design. The
company produces the videos that Coppedge was handing out to co-workers,
said Becker, his attorney.

His main duties at JPL were to maintain computer networks and troubleshoot
technical problems for the mission. In 2000, he was named "team lead,"
serving as a liaison between technicians and managers for nearly a decade
before being demoted in 2009.

He sued in April 2010 alleging religious discrimination, retaliation and
harassment and amended his suit to include wrongful termination after
losing his job last year.

Coppedge is seeking attorney's fees and costs, damages for wrongful
termination and a statement from the judge that his rights were violated,
said Becker.

"

... 'freedom of conscience 101' :)) Prachtig zulke kronkels uit een
bedorven bovenkamer. :))

Het is maar de vraag of hier überhaupt wel sprake is van discriminatie.
Immers, 'geloven' staat haaks op wetenschap, of zelfs 'niet weten', en kan
bovendien op geen enkele manier een basis vormen voor wetenschap.

Het: Centre for Science and Culture at the Seattle-based Discovery
Institute, is al even onbetrouwbaar als wetenschappelijk instituut. Eerder
te vergelijken met een EO (al het wetenschappelijk schrapt uit
wetenschappelijke documentaires, of een Sven Kockelmann (KRO) die meent
(/propageert) dat we in een Joods-gr/christelijke traditie leven, zonder
daarvoor ook maar enig bewijs voor aan te leveren.

Henk Elegeert
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