Former Trinity employee files lawsuit

Trinity Broadcasting Network attorneys have yet to respond to a civil lawsuit filed by a former employee who claims that he was discriminated against because he is gay.

In a lawsuit filed in late January, former broadcasting engineer Brian Dugger claims that his close relationship with Trinity Broadcasting Network co-founder and Chairman Paul Crouch Sr. led to continual mockery, harassment and ultimately his firing after Crouch handed over operations to his son, Paul Crouch Jr., and the company’s co-founder, Jan Crouch.

According to the complaint, Dugger started working with Trinity Broadcast in 1995 out of its Nashville station.

There, the lawsuit said, he “became exceedingly close” to Crouch Sr., and would have private dinners with him followed by drinks at Crouch’s home.

Five years later, Dugger claims, Crouch insisted that he move to the company’s Southern California facility in Tustin.

Crouch Sr. eventually handed more of the responsibility over to Jan and Paul Crouch Jr., Dugger claims.

Efforts to reach Trinity Broadcasting Network representatives for comment were unsuccessful.

In the years after his close friend’s departure, Dugger said the younger Crouch began a pattern of harassment and discrimination, telling him to dress less “gay,” tone down the jewelry and act more “straight.”

In one instance Dugger recalls in his lawsuit, Crouch Jr. publicly humiliated him by saying on live television he had a “mangina,” or a gay man with female genitalia. He also sent Dugger links to heterosexual pornographic websites, according to the suit.

Eventually, the company looked to sever its ties with him but keep his services by having him listed as an outside contractor with another company that works closely with Trinity Broadcasting.

In 2007, Dugger claims, he was fired from that job, and when he tried to get rehired with Trinity, Crouch Jr. said no, telling him it was not a place for “fairies.”

Dugger is seeking more than $2.5 million in damages.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].