ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A longtime columnist and features writer for The Morning Call of Allentown said June 23 he was suspended from the newspaper for serving as the grand marshal of a Pride parade.

Frank Whelan, who is gay, said he was suspended for two days without pay over what the newspaper called a violation of its ethics policy, which prohibits employees from publicly associating themselves with causes.

Whelan, who has not worked since the parade, said he is planning to file a civil rights lawsuit against the paper and pursue the matter with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces laws against workplace discrimination.

“I was naïve enough to believe The Morning Call would be happy [for me] because they are always talking about how they believe in diversity,” he said.

Morning Call spokesperson Vicki C. Mayk said Whelan violated the paper’s code of ethics by marching in the Pride in the Park parade in Allentown on June 17. The ethics policy prohibits employees from participating in “public demonstrations in favor of or in opposition to a cause.”

She pointed out that a news release issued by the parade’s organizer, Pride of the Greater Lehigh Valley, stated that Whelan and his partner, Bob Wittman, were selected as grand marshals in part to highlight the need for “marriage equality.”

“We felt that clearly tied his participation to an issue,” Mayk said.

While declining to confirm that the paper suspended Whelan, Mayk said that he was not fired and that the paper would welcome his return to the staff. “We consider him a valued member of the editorial staff,” she said.

But Whelan, who has worked for the paper for 25 years and wrote a history column, said he intends to quit.

“I would be emotionally ill; I would be retching; I would be incapable of working with these people,” Whelan said. “I cannot go back into that building.”

He contends the parade did not have a political agenda but was merely a celebration of Pride.

Whelan, 56, said his lawsuit and EEOC complaint will claim age discrimination. He said he believes The Morning Call used his participation in the parade as a pretext to get rid of him because of his age. Whelan said he was among dozens of employees offered a buyout last fall but that he turned it down.

Mayk declined to comment on potential litigation.

The newspaper is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co.