GOP congressman sued for alleged rampant discrimination against a gay staffer

A former aide to Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX) is suing the politician, saying he was forced out of his job because he was gay.

Alex Chadwell worked for Nehls from 2021 to 2023 as a legislative correspondent and field representative for Nehls. He said he was subjected to homophobic comments and that once Nehl learned that Chadwell was gay, he got fired.

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Nehls worked as a legislative correspondent for Nehl’s office in D.C. from January 2021 until May 2021, when he left over the stream of anti-gay comments and decreased responsibilities after Chadwell’s sexuality was revealed. He then transferred to Nehls’ Richmond, Texas office because of the “direct anti-gay hostility” from Chadwell’s boss, chief of staff Robert Schroeder.

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Schroeder made comments like “gays go to hell” and that natural behavior is “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” among others. Schroeder also told Nehls not to engage with LGBTQ+ constituents and that he would not back legislation that is supportive of LGBTQ+ rights.

Nehls spokesperson Emily Matthews said in a statement that Nehls’ office “did not, and does not discriminate based on any unlawful factor.”

“There is no merit whatsoever to Mr. Chadwell’s claim and the allegations of sexual orientation harassment are totally false,” Matthews said. “The office intends to mount a vigorous defense in this matter and is confident that it will be exonerated once all the facts are known.”

She also said of Chadwell’s allegations, “every single aspect is a complete fabrication,” in an email to Politico.

The lawsuit, which was filed against the entire office, said that once Nehls learned that Chadwell was gay, he completely cut his staffer off. Nehls and his wife Jill stopped interacting with Chadwell and his family at social functions and removed him from job duties like accompanying Nehls on trips in the district.

Mary Davis, the deputy district director in Nehls’ Richmond office when Chadwell transferred there from Washington, said that in August 2022, Nehls had asked another former staffer to call her to find out if Chadwell was gay. She confirmed that Nehl’s treatment of Chadwell completely changed.

“They were really good family friends and then it was like Alex was dead to him after he found out he was gay,” she said.

Davis also said that one time when a staffer was watching Queer Eye in the office, Nehls said to turn it off. She said that Nehls said, “Why are we watching this? We need to turn it off. We don’t support these people.”

Davis also lost her job in Nehls’ office, which she alleges is because she filed an internal complaint over alleged age discrimination and a hostile work environment, something she blamed on Schroeder.

Chadwell left in October 2023, saying that Schroeder told him that his departure was because their “lifestyles” did not align, according to the lawsuit.

Chadwell’s attorney, Les Alderman, spoke to the magazine, saying in a statement, “It is particularly reprehensible that someone could be forced out of a job because of their sexuality in this day and age. We should be beyond this as a society, and we will be sure that justice is served.”

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