Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has launched a lawsuit against the pageant organization for religious discrimination. Prejean alleges she was discriminated against for her religious beliefs when she was stripped of her Miss California crown in June.
Carrie Prejean became embroiled in a nationwide controversy after speaking out against gay marriage at the Miss USA competition in April. A month later, she was fired from her position as the Miss California USA representative. Officials for Miss California says Prejean was fired because she repeatedly missed scheduled appearances for the organization and failed to clear non-affiliated appearances with them – many of which centered around airing her anti-gay views.
The former pageant queen, however, claims Miss California USA fabricated evidence to support their claim she was fired for other than religious reasons. In court documents filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carrie Prejean states the organization “fabricated a fraudulent list of some 50 public appearances allegedly missed by Prejean which they released to the media in order to justify her termination as Miss California USA.”
Carrie Prejean is accusing the organization of religious discrimination, defamation and emotional distress, among other charges.