Minnesota prison employees granted trial after diversity training protest

Article Tools Print This Page | Comments(0) | Suggest a Story

By Pioneer Planet

Published: 06/11/2001

Minnesota state prison employees who protested part of a mandatory diversity training session by reading their Bibles are entitled to a trial on claims their rights to free speech and equal protection of the law were violated when they were reprimanded, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a decision released recently.
The employees quietly read their Bibles during an October 1997 training session titled 'Gays and Lesbians in the Workplace.' They were not asked to stop and participate during the workshop by supervisors who were present.
Department of Corrections officers Kenneth Yackly and Kristen Larson were denied promotions because of the written reprimands that were later placed in their files. Thomas Altman, a painter, received his first poor performance review after the incident.
The appellate court reversed U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery, who dismissed claims of free speech and equal protection violations but ruled the department had violated the employees' rights of free exercise of religion and freedom of conscience. The Circuit Court of Appeals reversed both decisions, instructing the lower court to dismiss the freedom of religion and conscience claims and reinstating the others.
Both sides appealed Montgomery's decision. Lawyers for the Corrections Department argued that the employees were not disciplined for their protest but for refusing to participate in the training.
'This is a potentially strong argument ... but it is not supported by the undisputed facts,' Circuit Judge James B. Loken wrote for the three-judge panel. 'In our view, the critical fact is that other employees have been similarly inattentive at (Shakopee Correctional Facility) training sessions, but none has ever been disciplined.'
Corrections officials declined comment but said in a news release that 'the department supports a workplace that is free from harassment or discrimination.'
Frank Manion of the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, said the 8th Circuit decision reflected 'exactly the way it should have gone all along.'

Comments:

No comments have been posted for this article.

Login to let us know what you think

MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search