Dig Deeper Texas

University workers dismissed after praying at employee’s cubicle

DALLAS — Two former employees of the University of Texas at Arlington said they were fired after praying over another staff member’s cubicle and anointing it with olive oil.

What those two former employees fail to mention is that the other staff member was not present, nor did she ask for them to pray over her cubicle. If someone makes a voodoo doll out of your hair and puts it in your cubicle with pins in it and gets fired for it is it religious discrimination?

I am betting all the people up in arms about these firings wouldn’t feel the same way if it had been a voodoo ritual instead of a Christian ritual.

“UTA should be ashamed for punishing these two women for simply praying after work on their own time,” said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for the firm, which files lawsuits over religious issues.

The university released a statement saying its decision had been upheld by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hiram Sasser is distorting the facts, they weren’t simply praying on their own time. A third employee was having problems with the cubicles owner, who wasn’t present, and they were dealing with it in their own way by praying over her things and annointing her cubicle with olive oil.

More specifically, praying, shouting and/or chanting over a co-worker’s personal and professional belongings without her knowledge and consent constitutes harassment of a fellow co-worker,” she wrote. “In addition, rubbing this co-worker’s cubicle with oil is blatant disregard for university property, both of which are identified as behavior that is grounds for dismissal.”

This isn’t religious discrimination. If they had chosen to pray in their own cubicles after hours this wouldn’t have been an issue. If they went home and prayed over the situation this wouldn’t have been an issue. If they went to the local coffee shop as a threesome and prayed over the troubles this wouldn’t have been an issue. What they chose to do was offensive and they will lose their suit. Why don’t people understand that no one cares how they worship or where their beliefs take them, they just have no right to push those beliefs on others.

There is REAL religious discrimination and persecution in this country. (See article about Virgil Goode or US Airways) People need to stop crying persecution when there is none. The only one who has the right in this story to cry religious persecution is the cubicle’s owner.

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Filed under: Frivolous Lawsuit, Lawsuit abuse, religious freedom