It has been seven years since Joe Kennedy served as head coach of the junior varsity football team and assistant coach of the varsity team at Bremerton High School. When he first got the job, he says his work routine involved a post-game prayer at the 50-yard line.
The school district told Kennedy to stop, and to pray separately from students. The district and Kennedy could not agree. He was fired, and he filed a lawsuit.
On former Coach Kennedy’s side, they argue no one should be fired from their job for simply being a person of faith in public, but representatives for Bremerton School District say this case is about a coach who violated the religious freedom of public high school students.
