April 16 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Yankees and the city’s police department were sued by a Boston Red Sox fan who said he was ejected from Yankee Stadium in August because he tried to use the restroom during the singing of “God Bless America.”

Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a 30-year-old resident of Astoria, Queens, said he was the victim of religious and political discrimination. The New York Civil Liberties Union sued yesterday on his behalf in federal court in Manhattan.

“New York’s finest have no business arresting someone for trying to go to the bathroom at a politically incorrect moment,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the civil- liberties group, said in a statement.

Campeau-Laurion said he was stopped by an officer on his way to the restroom during the seventh-inning stretch and was thrown out of the stadium when he tried to keep walking.

The police disputed his account.

“The officers observed a male standing on his seat, cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disorderly manner while reeking of alcohol and decided to eject him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior,” Paul Browne, a spokesman for the Police Department, said in an e-mailed statement.

Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman for the Yankees, declined to comment.

Peanuts, Beer

Campeau-Laurion, originally from New Hampshire, attended the Yankees home game against the Red Sox on Aug. 26 with a friend, according to his complaint. Between halves of the seventh inning, after eating peanuts and drinking two beers, Campeau-Laurion got up to go to the restroom, he said.

“As he walked toward the tunnel leading to the concourse, a uniformed New York City police officer put up his hands and mumbled something to Mr. Campeau-Laurion,” according to the complaint.

He understood the policeman as indicating he couldn’t leave during “God Bless America.” When he tried to move past the officer, the policeman grabbed his arm and said, “He’s out” to another officer, who twisted Campeau-Laurion’s left arm behind his back, he said. They ejected him from the stadium, according to the complaint.

In addition to the Yankees, Campeau-Laurion sued Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the two unnamed officers who he says ejected him.

No-Movement Policy

Unlike most other Major League Baseball teams, the Yankees seek to prevent fans from moving during the playing of “God Bless America,” according to the complaint. The lawsuit also challenges that policy. Off-duty uniformed police officers at the games are paid by the Yankees, according to the complaint and Browne.

In a phone interview, Campeau-Laurion disputed the police department’s account. “Not a word of that is true,” he said. “The whole incident didn’t occur at my seat. It occurred at my section when I went to use the restroom.”

He said the police never took his name and they may have confused him with someone else.

The complaint refers to Campeau-Laurion as “an avid and lifelong baseball fan” who bought tickets for 24 games this year.

In the interview, he said his being a Red Sox fan had nothing to do with the incident. He went to the game from work and was wearing a dress shirt and dress pants and nothing to indicate he was a Red Sox fan, he said. “I was wearing blue and gray,” he said. “I was actually in Yankees colors.” Campeau- Laurion is director of Web productions for a media company he declined to name.

‘Dragged Out’

Campeau-Laurion said in the interview he told the police “’I don’t care about ‘God Bless America.’ I don’t believe that’s grounds constitutionally for being dragged out of a baseball game.”

He declined to characterize himself as either an atheist or agnostic.

“I simply don’t have any religious beliefs,” he said.

Irving Berlin, who wrote “God Bless America,” was an agnostic, according to “Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir,” written by his daughter Mary Ellin Barrett and published in 1994.

The Yankees began playing “God Bless America” midway through the seventh inning after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as did every other Major League Baseball team, according to the complaint.

Campeau-Laurion said he had no problem with the Yankees playing the song or others listening to it.

‘Devalues Patriotism’

“It devalues patriotism as a whole when you force people to participate in patriotic acts,” he said. “It devalues the freedom we fought for in the first place.”

“I consider myself to be a good American citizen,” Campeau-Laurion said.

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox 7-3 the night of Aug. 26. The Yankees play the first game in their new stadium, built across the street from the old one, today.

The case is Campeau-Laurion v. Kelly, 09-cv-03790, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in New York federal court at tweidlich@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 16, 2009 00:01 EDT