An Ypsilanti man has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Ford Motor Company alleging he was fired for making comments regarding his religious beliefs about homosexuality.

The complaint was filed Wednesday on Thomas Banks' behalf by the

Liberty Institute

, a Texas-based Christian legal advocacy organization.

Banks alleges that in July 2014 he received an online newsletter from Ford sharing the company's support to promote pro-homosexual ideas and Ford GLOBE, an employee resource group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees.

GLOBE has been in existence for 20 years and, according to its website, has a mission to "foster an inclusive and supportive atmosphere within Ford for GLBT persons."

After receiving the email, Banks submitted a comment in the feedback section of the newsletter.

"For this Ford Motor should be thoroughly ashamed. Endorsing and promoting sodomy is of benefit to no one. This topic is disruptive to the workplace and is an assault on Christians and morality, as well as antithetical to our design and our survival," Banks wrote in the comment. "Immoral sexual conduct should not be a topic for an automotive manufacturer to endorse or promote.

"And yes this is historic but not in a good way. Never in the history of mankind has a culture survived that promotes sodomy. Heterosexual behavior creates life - homosexual behavior leads to death."

Banks says he was contacted by a Ford human resources representative and was called to a meeting a few days later informing him he violated the company's anti-harassment policy.

Later that same day, Banks says he was fired despite having a clean personnel record.

"I was stunned to realize that I was fired over expressing my faith in a single comment. It felt like Ford was saying, 'even if you are respectful, your faith, and you as a Christian, are unwelcome at Ford,' " Banks said in a press release.

He had been a contract employee of the company as a product engineer since 2011, according to the EEOC intake questionnaire. Banks was not available Wednesday to comment further on the complaint, according to the Liberty Institute.

"We are shocked that Ford Motor Company would terminate one of their employees simply because he expressed his faith," said Hiram Sasser, Liberty Institute director of litigation. "If Ford is allowed to get away with firing Mr. Banks over this comment, we fear that every person of faith will be punished for talking about his or her faith in the workplace. At Ford, if you speak about your faith as it relates to the company, even to the company, you may be terminated."

Ford did not return calls from The Ann Arbor News seeking comment on the complaint. Rapid Global Business Solutions Inc. - a Troy-based engineering design and staffing service company - was also named in the complaint.

Both companies released statements to WXYZ Detroit Wednesday evening.

RGBSI also terminated Banks following the incident, citing a harassment violation in the company's handbook, however Banks alleges the handbook does not have a clear policy regarding harassment.

In his complaint, Banks indicated he was working for Ford as a product engineer at 20000 Rotunda Dr. Building 2 in Dearborn.

The EEOC is a federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws on discrimination against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information.

"This is not just a case of Ford discriminating against people of faith. They broke multiple federal laws, from the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and they must be held accountable," Sasser said.

Matt Durr covers Ypsilanti for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at mattdurr@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.