Intern for California Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Terminated for Sharing Her Faith

Jacqueline Escobar has been a straight-A student at California State University—Long Beach (CSULB) and, as a result, was awarded an internship at the California Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). As a results of Escobar sharing her faith with her coworkerss during her personal time (and for wearing a religious message t-shirt after working hours) , she was order by officials to stop expressing her faith and forced to sign a document stating she had “an inability to separate her religious beliefs from her role as a[n] . . . Intern.” When Escobar refused, she was terminated from her internship and threatened with expulsion from the CSULB graduate program.

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) has filed a lawsuit on Escobar's behalf. "DCFS has no business telling an intern that she cannot share her faith during non-working hours. We are confident the federal court will cut off this muzzle which has been used to silence Ms. Escobar," was the response from Brad Dacus, president of PJI.

Graduate Student Kicked Out of Internship Based on Religious Beliefs