About midway through his term, he was pulled over for speeding while on his way to a costume party. He was wearing a dress and wig for the party. The police officer was a member of the church. After issuing the ticket to Mr. Jones, she contacted Pastor Paul Adams. He immediately fired Mr. Jones for living an alternate lifestyle. Mr. Jones wanted the rest of his salary.
I was originally heated when I saw this segment. I decided to do some digging and learn more about the pastor and his church. Turns out that both he and Kyle Jones aren't real people. They are characters portrayed by actors. Which is something to consider next time you sit down to watch another episode of "America's Court with Judge Ross." The cases are fake and are actually "inspired" by real-life cases.
Fakeness aside, the show really played into anti-gay Christian stereotypes -- which is usually easy to do. The truth is that most Christian churches would have done the same. I know too many LGBTQ people who've lost jobs to churches or other Christian organizations, so why not "Kyle Jones," who may have been a closet cross-dresser, or he might have actually just been traveling to a costume party.
Sadly, some of these interactions are all too familiar:
Judge Ross: And that (Jones wearing a dress for the party) was a problem...?The pastor then explains that he'd spoken to Mr. Jones in the past because he wears "flamboyant clothing." But he still hired the guy to teach the league despite these previous admonishments. There was other judgmental crap like that from the "pastor" scattered throughout the episode -- which, once again, wouldn't surprise me from most actual cases.
Pastor Adams: Cross-dressing as a woman, yes.
Judge Ross: It was a costume party...
Pastor Adams: So he says.
Judge Ross: Oh, that's the issue... Did you just ask him, "Is this a lifestyle thing or is this a one-time thing?"
Pastor Adams: No.
Judge Ross: Why not?
Pastor Adams: Because, he was dressed like a woman. There's no excuse for it!
Judge Ross was ultimately sympathetic towards the plaintiff, but ruled in favor of the bigoted pastor. Which doesn't shock me, but not for the reasons stated in the episode. It's a church basketball league and the plaintiff was employed by the church. They're allowed for discriminate against LGBTQ employees. And such employers generally delight in such discrimination.
You can watch the entire segment here.