Do Religious Fanatics Have the Right to Conduct Exorcisms in the Workplace?
What the hell is going on in Texas?
Tonight we have some disturbing news from the University of Texas at Arlington, where three employees are in trouble for staging a bizarre exorcism of a co-worker.
macon.com tries to stay impartial: Religious expression in the workplace can impact others.
In Shatkin v. University of Texas at Arlington, three employees who had personal conflicts with a co-worker agreed to pray together after work. They met outside the co-worker’s office when it was empty.
One member of the prayer vigil rubbed olive oil on the co-employee’s office door and chanted loudly, “I command you demons to leave (the co-worker’s name), you vicious evil dogs get the hell out of there in the name of Jesus, get the hell out of (the co-worker name).”
One of the three employees reported the incident to their supervisor. Following an investigation, the other two employees were terminated because they “displayed conduct unbecoming a UT Arlington staff member, harassment of a fellow co-worker and blatant disregard for the property of UT Arlington.” The terminated employees then requested religious accommodation. Their request was denied. The two ex-employees sued UTA alleging religious discrimination. UTA asked the court to dismiss the claim, arguing the employees did not request religious accommodation prior to engaging in the conduct, and also arguing it had no duty to accommodate harassing conduct aimed at a co-worker. The court declined to dismiss that case, finding that there were issues of fact that needed to be resolved by a jury.
As you can see, it can sometimes be difficult deciding when and how to allow religious expression in the workplace without offending employees and customers who may be offended by the expression.
“Can impact others?”
If I were the target of this strange threatening ritual, I would have pressed charges. Anyone who’s deluded enough to think “demons” influence human behavior — seriously, in the real world — should be considered a possible danger to others. Especially if there are other people sharing the delusion.
