A local aviation company has been sued in federal court after it allegedly fired an employee, who is a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for refusing to raise flags outside the company’s Barrigada office.

The lawsuit against Aviation Concepts Inc. was filed in the District Court of Guam on Friday. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a press release yesterday.

The EEOC represents Armando Perez, who worked as a mechanic at Aviation Concepts until June 2010.

According to the lawsuit, Perez was allegedly fired last summer after he refused to raise American and Guam flags outside of the Aviation Concepts office. Jehovah’s Witnesses are forbidden from raising flags, which is deemed as sacrilegious.

“Mr. Perez holds a sincere religious belief that his religion prohibits him from demonstrating any allegiance to symbols of government, which includes the act of raising the flags of the United States or Guam,” the lawsuit states. “(Aviation Concepts managers) were aware of this sincere religious belief held by Mr. Perez.”

The lawsuit doesn’t include a proposed compensation figure, but it does ask a judge to award Perez back pay and order punitive damages against Aviation Concepts.

The EEOC press release states attempts at out-of-court settlements failed, prompting the lawsuit.

“EEOC will fight to secure equal justice at work, regardless of whether one’s religious beliefs and practices are less familiar,” said Anna Park, an EEOC attorney, in the release.

Aviation Concepts hasn’t filed a response to the lawsuit. The company declined yesterday to comment on the lawsuit.

Aviation Concepts is an aircraft management, air ambulance and private jet charter company with headquarters in Barrigada. The company also has offices in Japan and the Philippines, according to the company’s website. The air ambulance CareJet is a subsidiary of Aviation Concepts.

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