A Christian actor reportedly sued a Broadway production company in October for terminating him due to his religious beliefs.
The Christian Headlines said Chad Kimball sued Kiss The Cod Broadway and Alchemy Production Group who "unlawfully terminated Kimball wholly or partly because Kimball's religious beliefs made them uncomfortable." Kimball is one of the cast of "Come From Away," a Broadway musical that debuted in 2016 regarding a small town that openly welcomes people despite differences in religion, race, or creed on Sept. 11.
In an Instagram post on Oct. 25, Kimball pointed out the irony of belonging to the musical yet experienced something totally opposite to its "message."
"The Broadway musical 'Come From Away' is a story about a small town welcoming people from around the world on 9/11, regardless of creed, race or religion. However, as the complaint I have filed alleges, some associated with the show have lost sight of that message and have not shown me the same kindness," he said.
Kimball expressed hopes that those he worked with would understand his actions for filing the lawsuit due to the "discrimination" he experienced being a part of the musical.
"I hope those at the show who are not a party to this discrimination will understand that I cannot stand by and allow the violation of my protected civil rights go unchallenged: By God's grace, Every one of us has worth," the actor emphasized.
The lawsuit alleged that Kimball was fired after expressing disappointments over the Washington's COVID-19 mandate that limits in-person worship services and singing during worship last November 2020. It also claimed that Kimball was terminated for his "conservative" Christian beliefs since the play's crew and staff started questioning him about it after the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot happened.
Kimball particularly cited in the lawsuit a Jan. 18 phone call from the play's producer, Susan Frost, on the January 6 Capitol riot's linkage to the conservative Christian movement. Kimball was terminated four days after the phone call, on Jan. 22.
As previously reported, Kimball openly expressed his disobedience to Washington Governor Jay Inslee's "unlawful orders"on houses of worship in a Nov. 16, 2020 post in Twitter. Kimball pointed out that it was already a matter of "control" than maintaining people's safety.
"Respectfully, I will never allow a Governor, or anyone, to stop me from SINGING, let alone sing in worship to my God. Folks, absolute POWER corrupts ABSOLUTELY. This is not about safety. It's about POWER. I will respectfully disobey these unlawful orders," the actor remarked.
Kimball's tweet, however, cost the actor to be highly criticized last year by netizens and by his very own colleagues who pointed out "disagreements" with him on the matter.
"Come From Away" producers, however, called Kimball's claims for his termination as "completely unfounded," stressing the theme of the play on "diversity."
"Chad's allegations are completely unfounded. This very show is built on the power of diversity, and we celebrate every voice. We cannot comment further given HR privacy rules, and we wish Chad all the best in his future endeavors," The Christian Post quoted the producers in saying.
