A 27-year-old Las Vegas heavy-equipment operator has taken his former employer to federal court, claiming his job went off a cliff after a coworker mocked his Christian faith, vandalized a Jesus figurine and, he says, triggered a chain of events that ended with his firing. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, accuses Las Vegas Paving Corporation of religious harassment, disability discrimination and retaliation, and seeks compensatory, emotional and punitive damages.
According to The Independent, plaintiff Anthony Spor‑Orellana says a coworker repeatedly mocked his cross necklace and loudly declared that the Bible is "stupid" and that people who believe in it are "believing in fairy tales." The outlet reports that Spor‑Orellana took the complaints to supervisors and that his attorneys went to court after he received a right-to-sue notice.
What the suit says
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada and available via the court filing, says Spor‑Orellana started working for Las Vegas Paving in December 2022. It states that he went on medical leave for hip replacement surgery in July 2024 and again in December, then returned to the job needing a seat cushion and the ability to shift his position while he worked.
According to the complaint, Spor‑Orellana kept a Jesus figurine in his front-end loader and later found it "mutilated, with its hands and eyes cut off and apparent stab wounds inflicted upon it." The filing alleges that on October 7, 2025, he was involved in a near-collision with the same coworker, filed a safety complaint about the incident and was fired three days later on what the lawsuit calls a "false and pretextual basis." The suit says he has suffered physical and emotional injury and is seeking back pay, emotional distress damages, liquidated damages and punitive relief.
Legal context
Federal law prohibits religious harassment and retaliation and generally requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious practices and for disabilities, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. Guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that employers can be held liable if they do not prevent or promptly correct harassing conduct. The same EEOC and ADA guidance outlines employers' obligations to engage in the accommodation process for workers with disabilities. Those standards frame the Title VII and disability retaliation claims Spor‑Orellana is bringing.
What happens next
The Independent reports that Spor‑Orellana first filed charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, then received a right-to-sue notice. His lawyers filed the federal lawsuit the same day, according to the outlet. Las Vegas Paving did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the complaint notes that the company will have about three weeks to file its formal answer. From there, the case will move through the usual federal-court grind of pleadings and discovery.
Local context
Las Vegas Paving Corporation is a longtime local heavy-civil contractor with a federal registration and years of procurement history in public records. HigherGov's vendor profile lists the company and its federal registration, and local coverage has identified the firm as the contractor on city projects such as the Rancho Drive overhaul earlier this year. It is not exactly a low-profile outfit in the public-works world, which means this case is likely to attract attention beyond one job site.
The dispute ultimately turns on whether a judge or jury decides the alleged conduct and the company's response rise to the level of actionable religious harassment, disability discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and related laws. For now, all eyes move to the federal docket, where Las Vegas Paving's response and any early motions will shape what happens next.
