September 24, 2007

Oh, No! Big Gay Meanies Persecuting Christians Again!

In Concord, NH:

Ex-employee alleges religious bias

A former employee has accused Casey Family Services, a child advocacy agency, of religious discrimination for allegedly harassing and penalizing her for sharing her Christian beliefs in the office.

Penny Nixon, a member of Trinity Baptist Church, said she was sarcastically referred to as the “good Christian” and forbidden from giving out Christmas cards that referenced the birth of Christ. Nixon also alleges that although Casey Family Services promoted tolerance and diversity, it forbid her from holding voluntary lunch-hour Bible studies while it permitted a gay and lesbian group to meet during business hours.

“Penny Nixon is not saying she has any objection to working with gay men or lesbians,” Nixon’s attorney, Chuck Douglas, wrote in a lawsuit filed recently in Merrimack County Superior Court. “She does not object to diversity training that is evenhanded. However, she does assert her right to have her practice and belief in Christianity unmolested in the workplace.”

. . .

In 2001, Nixon was spoken to by a supervisor for giving a small Bible pamphlet to a pizza delivery man. She was told she could have the pamphlet on her desk but could not hand it out. Nixon alleges that policy contradicted Casey’s requirement that the office’s bulletin board always promote a “safe zone” for gays and lesbians.

Nixon told a member of Casey’s diversity council that she felt her religious beliefs were being discriminated against while gay and lesbian rights were being promoted. Shortly afterward, Nixon was told that she’d have to start sharing Wednesday night office duties, even though the office knew she had a church meeting that night, the lawsuit said.

. . .

Nixon said she was reprimanded again after she shared an e-mail with some co-workers from her son-in-law that contained Scripture. A colleague accused Nixon of telling her and her husband that they “were sinners on a wrong path, headed for hell.” Nixon denied that in her lawsuit and said she gave them a Christmas card and invited them to a new couples class at Trinity Baptist Church. …

. . .

“Apparently, at Casey, diversity means a ’safe zone’ for the gay and lesbian agenda,” Douglas wrote in the lawsuit, “but not that minority group known as devout conservative Christians.” …