A heavy equipment operator in Las Vegas claims he was subjected to “persistent religious harassment” by a coworker who, among other things, deemed the Bible as fiction, according to a federal lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
In a complaint filed June 4, Anthony Spor-Orellana, a devout Christian, says the unnamed colleague mocked his cross necklace, stated “loudly… that the Bible is ‘stupid,’ and said that true believers have been deluded by “fairy tales.”
The 27-year-old Sin City resident also says he discovered a Jesus figurine he kept in his front-end loader “had been mutilated, with its hands and eyes cut off and apparent stab wounds inflicted upon it,” according to the complaint.
“Mr. Spor-Orellana reported the vandalism to his foreman, who acknowledged it but took no meaningful corrective action,” the complaint alleges.
After Mr. Spor-Orellana – who also has a hip condition – went to management, he says he was fired in retaliation for making waves.
Just 20 percent of Americans believe the Bible is the literal word of God, according to a 2022 Gallup poll – half what the number was in 1984. At the same time, 29 percent of respondents – an all-time high – said they considered the Bible to be a compendium of “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” About 28 percent of Americans say religion is “not very important” in their own lives, 24 percent claim no religious affiliation, and, in a 2025 poll, 57 percent said they “seldom or never” attend religious services.
Earlier this year, a conservative Christian man working for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works sued after being denied permission to work remotely during Pride Month, thus requiring him to see the Progress Pride flag being flown at department headquarters “multiple times throughout each working day.” On the flip side of the coin, two employees working for a North Carolina building services company sued in 2022 after being fired for refusing to participate in mandatory daily prayer meetings.
Las Vegas Paving, Spor-Orellana’s former employer and a federal contractor that has received more than $120 million in U.S. government contracts since 2003, did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
Spor-Orellana began working for Las Vegas Paving in December 2022, as a front-end loader operator, according to his complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
A onetime high school baseball player whose Facebook page shows a subsequent stint in the U.S. Army, Spor-Orellana took medical leave in July 2024 for hip replacement surgery, the complaint states. That December, Spor-Orellana underwent a second hip replacement procedure, it says.
Following the two operations, Spor-Orellana had occasional difficulty sitting, standing, and walking, the complaint goes on.
“When Mr. Spor-Orellana returned to work in or around March 2025, he continued to experience ongoing pain and discomfort from his hip condition,” the complaint contends. “To manage his disability and perform the functions of his position, Mr. Spor-Orellana required a reasonable accommodation, including the use of a seat cushion in his machine and the ability to periodically adjust his seated position to relieve hip discomfort.”
The following month, according to the complaint, “a coworker subjected Mr. Spor-Orellana to ongoing and unwelcome harassment because of his Christian faith, including mocking his cross necklace and loudly stating that the Bible is ‘stupid’ and that those who believe in it are ‘believing in fairy tales.’”
Last September, Spor-Orellana found the Jesus figurine in his front-end loader had been damaged, the complaint continues.
On October 7, 2025, Spor-Orellana claims he almost collided with the same coworker who allegedly badmouthed the Bible, forcing him to “brake sharply” to avoid hitting the other man’s truck with his loader. The two nearly came to blows in the aftermath, the complaint states.
“Mr. Spor-Orellana filed a formal workplace safety complaint regarding the incident,” it says. “Las Vegas Paving took no meaningful corrective action, and the coworker remained employed.”
However, Spor-Orellana was fired three days later, on “a false and pretextual basis,” according to the complaint, which does not specify the reason he was purportedly given.
“In reality, Las Vegas Paving wrongfully terminated Mr. Spor-Orellana in discrimination based on his religion and disability,” the complaint alleges, adding that Spor-Orellana had been “subjected to slurs, insults, jokes, other verbal comments, and/or intimidation” at work.
Spor-Orellana claims Las Vegas Paving had a responsibility to “prevent and promptly correct” the alleged harassment, but “breached its duty by failing to remedy” the issue.
On Wednesday, he filed a discrimination charge with both the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, receiving a right-to-sue notice on Thursday. His attorneys, who did not respond to a request for comment, filed suit on his behalf the same day.
“[T]he conduct of Defendant Las Vegas Paving Corporation was despicable and committed in willful and conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s rights to work in a workplace free of unlawful harassment, or the economic and emotional distress such harassment and discrimination would cause,” Spor-Orellana’s complaint states.
It further says he has suffered “physical and mental injury, and will continue to suffer great financial, mental and emotional injury, pain and distress.”
Spor-Orellana is now seeking compensatory damages for lost earnings, salary, bonuses, and lost benefits; liquidated damages; emotional distress damages; and punitive and exemplary damages “in an amount sufficient to punish Defendant Las Vegas Paving Corporation,” plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Las Vegas Paving now has roughly three weeks to file a formal answer to the allegations.
