But Sundquist's lawsuit, filed Tuesday, said the revocation action cost him his massage therapist job and caused him to be evicted from his home.

The lawsuit names the state, its Attorney General's Office, the state health department and several individual state employees with those agencies as defendants in the case.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said her office had not yet seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on it. A spokeswoman with the Nebraska Attorney General's office said Thursday that she was looking into the lawsuit.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a 12-step program that seeks to help people overcome alcohol addiction. Several of the steps have religious overtones, such as those that have the participant pray, strive for moral reform and seek help from a higher power.

Some courts have held that it's unconstitutional for authorities to order people who declare a religious objection to attend AA meetings. In 2007, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, found that a parole officer can be sued for damages for ordering a parolee to go through AA.

Sundquist — who is acting as his own attorney — is asking for $200,000, saying the state cost him a promising career as a massage therapist. He is also seeking an injunction to prevent the state or its employees "from requiring similar religious activities against their religious objections."

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