Officer Says He Was Banned From Toting Bible

OMAHA, Neb. (CN) - The Omaha Correctional Center banned a corrections officer from carrying a pocket New Testament in retaliation for his taking sick leave, the officer claims in a federal lawsuit.

Jeffrey Franks says prison supervisors harassed him over his frequent time off, "even with the knowledge of plaintiff's disability of limited motion of the cervical spine incurred in the military and leg injury incurred while employed by the defendant."

After Franks filed a complaint with the state, he claims his work schedule changed for the worse, and in 2007 and 2008 he was "denied his right to carry his New Testament pocket-size Bible at work."

Franks sued Nebraska, alleging religious discrimination and retaliation.

He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and is represented by Robert Chapin in Lincoln, Neb.

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