Harassing Your Co-Workers As Sinners Isn't Protected Speech

[Theophylact]

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has unanimously upheld a lower court's summary dismissal of a suit brought against Hewlett-Packard by an employee who claimed he was fired for his religion.

(His religion, it seems, required that he post over his cubicle Bible verses condemning homosexuality, and opposing an H-P Diversity program that specifically included gays.)

[Beemer]

You did that on purpose....lol
Not this time buddy....

Cheers!

[Starfury_2260]

i woulda just quit, and never buy anything from hp ever. i wouldn't have before and now i know i wont.

[originel]

i understand why they did that and agree with HP's decision. From what it sounds like he was a disturbance in the workplace. Besides, AFAIK a company is a private organization and therefore they have the right to terminate employment for any reason as long as it isn't based on discrimination, which doesn't seem to be the case to me. if it is then i stand corrected and hp was wrong, but two courts said that there was no evidence of discrimination.

[MrMikeL]

This is akin to the "moments of silence" where a teenage checkout person stops his or her job for a minute or two, holding up an entire checkout line. If you need to take time for something like that, do it on your own time is essentially what the justices are saying. Don't do it on company time.

[Theophylact]

No, actually, MrMikeL, I don't think that was it. The judges felt that a "reasonable accommodation" to his religious needs would have been fine; for instance, a Muslim's need for prayer five times a day. But since he seemed to require doing things that were intended to insult his co-workers, and refused any solution short of H-P's abandoning its governmentally-encouraged diversity policy, accommodation on his terms was unacceptable.

[John Prophet]

"but two courts said that there was no evidence of discrimination"

yeah..these are minor courts...pre-lims etc......there will be another court to face also....no loopholes, no lawyers, no appeals.

[M_Six]

Maybe so, but that court ain't gonna cost HP a dime.

[Gomer]

JP:

here will be another court to face also

Not the other court!!!

[daveleau]

Kind of reminds me of the Sedition Acts passed by Adams (not in wording but in ways of use) - you can say all you want until it offends someone in power.

It is shocking that this ruling came from our conservative 9th Circuit court! While Judicial Activism has been a part of the American judiciary from its inception, it is never too late to right a wrong.