THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240413
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 68 lines
A former worker at the Virginia Department of Health in Hampton is suing the state, claiming her supervisors tried to force their Christian beliefs on her.
Sonya McIntyre-Handy, a Unitarian, claims her objections to a Christian puppet show, crosses on the wall and ``God loves you'' signs in the state-funded department were met with increased proselytizing by her supervisor and a couple of other employees.
One day at her desk in the department's child-abuse prevention unit, McIntyre-Handy found a letter questioning her beliefs, said Deborah C. Waters, her attorney. The letter was signed by ``Jesus,'' she said.
When McIntyre-Handy filed a grievance, her formerly outstanding job performance reviews ``started going downhill,'' Waters said.
McIntyre-Handy was fired last May. The Newport News resident had worked at the Department of Health since August 1992.
The Virginia Attorney General's office, which represents state agencies in lawsuits, had no comment on the case. Spokesman Mark Miner said they had not yet seen the lawsuit. The complaint was originally filed by McIntyre-Handy earlier this year, but Waters amended it this week in U.S. District Court in Newport News.
Angie Russ, a minister's wife who was McIntyre-Handy's supervisor, also had no comment.
Religious discrimination and religious harassment have been coming to the forefront of workplace issues, although what is permitted is still murky, employment experts said.
The bulk of recent religious harassment cases comes when one worker who is enthusiastic about his or her religion tries to encourage a co-worker to worship in the same way, said Barry Lawrence, spokesman for the Society of Human Resource Management in Alexandria.
``It's OK to be religious,'' he said, ``but you have to stick to job-related behaviors. The real bottom line here is, if it's not job-related, you shouldn't be talking about it.''
In McIntyre-Handy's situation, when she divorced, Russ tried to persuade her to seek ``marital reconciliation'' through the Baptist church, Waters said.
``All Sonya asked for in the workplace was that she be left alone,'' Waters said. ``She never tried to convert anyone to her religion. Then they started trying to convert her to the Christian religion.''
McIntyre-Handy requested a transfer, but was turned down, Waters said. She was given the silent treatment by a small group in the department, loaded up with excessive work and not given the proper information to do her job, the lawsuit says.
Harlan A. Loeb, a civil-rights attorney with the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, said religious harassment cases are burgeoning much like sexual harassment cases were a few years ago. ``I think it's troubling,'' Loeb said. ``Particularly in a place of public employment, there's a greater responsibility for a supervisor to steer clear of these kind of comments.''
But, Loeb added, an employer does have the right to make comments about religion as long as the worker doesn't think a comment is a condition of employment. The employer, or anybody else, still has First Amendment rights.
``One person's religious accommodation is another person's religious discrimination,'' Loeb said.
McIntyre-Handy is suing the state for $10 million. She also has asked that she be given her job back - although with a different supervisor.
``She loved her job,'' Waters said. ``She loved working in the child-abuse prevention unit and she would love to be back working with those kids again.''
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION by CNB