Freedom of Religion

[Franco]

- Let her sue
- Let her lose
-Now let her go back to her own country and wear all the damn scarfs she wants!

Bingo. Make her return with her entire clan!

WE should have ZERO tolerence in the USA for Muslims who want laws above what is already provided to them! In fact, until we get terrorism under control, we should discriminate against them wanting US citizenship and ban all Muslims from entering the USA!

[Julie R.]

I heard this on the news recently and it just made my blood boil. For those that missed it, here's a link I found to a USA Today news story on it
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinati...hijab/108827/1

I hope she sues and loses, but in today's PC-gone-wild climate, chances are good Disney will end up settling out of court and payign her a huge sum, and that's just WRONG. It reminds me of the group of Somali Moslims that sued their employer, a hot dog meat packing plant in St. Cloud, Minn., over their religious right not to handle pork. These same pure of intent, devout Moslims had even signed an agreement beforehand about their terms of employment that clearly spelled out they would be handling pork: HELLO, it's a hot dog factory! Yet they were successfully awarded something like $320,000 in the suit. What's next?

[Gerry Clinchy]

Yet they were successfully awarded something like $320,000 in the suit. What's next?

So, once they got the money did they stay on the job or leave for another job? That might indicate how devout they were

[Terri]

Bingo. Make her return with her entire clan!

WE should have ZERO tolerence in the USA for Muslims who want laws above what is already provided to them! In fact, until we get terrorism under control, we should discriminate against them wanting US citizenship and ban all Muslims from entering the USA!

How do we figure out who is Muslim and who is not? The American people can't even agree on the religion of our president.

Terri

[YardleyLabs]

The St Cloud case is interesting. The case concerned two issues. First, job applicants looking to work in a poultry processing plant were asked to sign a statement in advance that they were willing to handle pork products. This was done by an employment agency under contract with Gold'n Plump Poultry. Anyone who refused to sign the agreement was not hired although handling pork was apparently not required for the job (They only processed poultry). The second issue related to prayer in the workplace. Workers were being terminated or threatened with termination for praying during the work day and also threatened with termination if the filed complaints. In the settlement, it was agreed that workers seeking jobs at the poultry processing plant would no longer be asked to sign the "pork acknowledgment" form. It was also agreed that workers could pray during their normal breaks and that an additional short break would be added to the afternoon shift for all workers. It was noted that the amount of time required for prayer was comparable to that of a bathroom break, which employees were permitted. However, they settled on the additional break in the afternoon by mutual agreement during the mediation.

See http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/11-12-08.cfm and http://www.startribune.com/business/...7PQLanchO7DiUs for example.

EDIT: BTW, as an employer, I was required to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of all my employees. Thus, I made arrangements to give off Good Friday and time off of mass on Ash Wednesday where requested by Christian employees. For Orthodox Jewish employees, I arranged work schedule so that they could be home before sun down on Fridays to conform with Sabbath requirements, as well as providing adjustments to allow them to use vacation time and to shift schedules to allow time off during major religious holidays. There is nothing unusual about making such accommodations.

[Franco]

How do we figure out who is Muslim and who is not? The American people can't even agree on the religion of our president.

Terri

Easy to profile. Beards wearing pajamas is a dead give-a-way.

[dnf777]

Easy to profile. Beards wearing pajamas is a dead give-a-way.

Just don't confuse them with pedophiles wearing bathrobes.

[Nor_Cal_Angler]

Just don't confuse them with pedophiles wearing bathrobes.

well, damn-it they can go TOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gerry Clinchy]

EDIT: BTW, as an employer, I was required to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of all my employees. Thus, I made arrangements to give off Good Friday and time off of mass on Ash Wednesday where requested by Christian employees. For Orthodox Jewish employees, I arranged work schedule so that they could be home before sun down on Fridays to conform with Sabbath requirements, as well as providing adjustments to allow them to use vacation time and to shift schedules to allow time off during major religious holidays. There is nothing unusual about making such accommodations.

This seems perfectly reasonable, Jeff. Nothing to argue with there. However, if your business is making hot dogs that contain pork ... does it require that the company change its business plan to accommodate any religion. After all, an orthodox Jew also has a pork prohibition. I'd be guessing, but my guess would be that we have more Jews than Muslims in the US ... yet this has only become an issue now? Or I could be mistaken on this last point?

I can understand the break time (when applied to all workers equally) ... but it would also seem fair to let an applicant know in advance that his job would involve handling pork. If his conscience would not allow him/her to do that, then they would have to look for a different job, even within the same company (if they were qualified for another job).

[Terri]

Easy to profile. Beards wearing pajamas is a dead give-a-way.

Sorry to inform you that you miss 90% of Muslims in the west with your profiling.


Terri