Gay former staffer sues GOP Texas congressman over 'hostile work environment'
A former congressional staffer has filed a lawsuit against Texas Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, claiming he was forced to quit his position due to a “hostile work environment.”Alex Chadwell, who is gay and began working for Nehls in January 2021, accused the representative, his chief of staff, and special adviser of regularly making homophobic comments such as “gays go to hell” or “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." He said that the chief of staff even once told him “not to engage with gay constituents."“The Representative, his Chief of Staff and his Special Advisor all regularly made offensive comments about gay people, directed toward Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states, via multiple outlets. “Considered as a whole, the hostile environment was sufficiently severe and/or pervasive to change the terms and conditions of Plaintiff’s employment and it resulted in a constructive termination.”Chadwell claimed that Nehls's special adviser kept an anti-LGBTQ+ poster in his office specifically to mock him and would often point at it in his presence, saying things like “We don’t need to let gays into military" or “We don’t need to support the queers."On one occasion, when Chadwell alerted chief of staff Robert Schroeder that he had contracted COVID-19, Schroeder allegedly responded that he “must get COVID so much because he was ‘kissing a lot of boys.'" Nehls also made "hostile" comments about LGBTQ+ people, according to the lawsuit, including saying “we do not support these people” after he saw an employee watching the reality show Queer Eye. Chadwell said that Nehls asked other employees about his sexuality and began to “ostracize” him after he learned he is gay, going so far as to completely ignore his work messages.Chadwell claimed that he was denied a promotion because of his sexuality, despite being the “most qualified” for the position. Instead, he was made to train the new hire who received the position, a heterosexual man, who quickly took over Chadwell's duties. Schroeder later allegedly told Chadwell that he had “no future or growth potential” with Nehls's office, as their "lifestyles" did not align. Chadwell said that he initially requested a transfer to the congressman's office in Richmond, Texas, in May 2021 to escape the bigoted comments and that he ended up resigning in October 2023 after “threats and extreme pressure." “Mr. Chadwell was deeply offended and disturbed that, up until his last day in the Office, the Office continued to isolate, ostracize and harass him because of his sexual orientation,” the lawsuit states.
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