WASHINGTON(AP)—The former opinion editor of the Washington Times has filed a religious discrimination complaint against the paper.

Richard Miniter says the company president “coerced” him into attending a Unification Church event in 2008 that included a mass wedding.

He says the company launched a background investigation into him earlier this year after he made a joke about the church to a co-worker.

The Times was founded by the leader of the Unification Church, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, in 1982.

The 42-year-old Miniter says he was fired in October.

The Arlington, Va., resident filed the complaint with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday. A Times spokesman didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.