You’re used to the concept of religious accommodations for employees. Could that extend to accepting a worker’s using religion as a rationale for assaulting a co-worker with anti-gay invective?
That was the bottom-line question in a recent Illinois lawsuit, after a woman claimed her company failed to accommodate her religious beliefs about homosexuals and lesbians.
A quick sketch of the case:
While working at Wal-Mart, Tanisha Matthews got in an argument with a lesbian co-worker named Amy.
Matthews allegedly screamed at Amy, saying God doesn’t accept gays, that they should not “be on Earth,” and that they will “go to hell.”
Wal-Mart fired Matthews for violating its anti-bias policy. Matthews filed suit, claiming that Wal-Mart had discriminated against her for expressing her religious beliefs.
So did the court buy Matthews’ argument?
Not a chance.
Wal-Mart fired Matthews for violating policy, plain and simple, said the judge.
Further, if Wal-Mart was required to accommodate Matthews to express her beliefs about gays, it could be found guilty of allowing workplace harassment, the court ruled.
The takeaway: Yes, employers are obligated to accommodate workers’ beliefs — but only up to the point where they impinge on other workers’ rights to be free of harassment in the workplace.
Cite: Matthews v. Wal-Mart. For a look at the full decision, go here.
