US court upholds firing for anti-gay Bible quotes

Reuters via forbes ^ | 1/6/04 | Reuters

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - So it begins here as it did in Canada...

[Dog Gone]

You are completely mistaken. Refer to post 166. There are laws on the books addressing these points specifically.

No, I'm not. Don't confuse a law with the Constitution.

I'm well aware of the laws that were passed, most of which are constitutional.

[HennepinPrisoner]

They shouldn't have fired him, but I do agree they should have the right to.

[Barnacle]

The HP posters, which carried the slogan "Diversity is Our Strength," were part of an effort to promote the computer and printer maker's bid to hire and retain a diverse work force.

Well, their customer base has just become less diverse by one Barnacle.

[WackyKat]

From what I read, the guy objected to a "promote diversity" poster with photos of homosexuals IN his cubicle. At any rate, the article said the guy said he'd take his quotes down if they took the "gay promotion" poster down, but no go.

It wasn't his cubicle, it was his employer's cubicle.

And it was not up to him to decide whether the company would have a "gay" poster or not

He posted a clearly implied death threat to co-employees and should have been fired and escorted off the premises immediately

[Sloth]

Religion and politics are best not discussed/displayed at work.

Then HP should not have started it.

[Jorge]

Did the guy say HP should not hire homosexuals? No, he did not. He was illustrating a point.

Right. He posted scripture from Leviticus stating that homosexuals should be put to death.

Are you kidding?

[Barnacle]

You're teetering on Twainian eloquence.

[Lancey Howard]

When my brother worked for Hewlett-Packard Co. he was actually required (along with everybody else in his department) to attend an office "welcome back" party, complete with cake, soda, and decorations, for an employee who had taken a leave of absence to get a sex-change operation.

I will never buy a Hewlett-Packard product for as long as I live.

[dhs12345]

If an employer forces me to accept that type of lifestyle, then yes it bothers me too. And I would say something.

However, I have to put food on the table, roof over my family's head, etc.

I respect anyone who is willing to sacrifice security for what they believe.

[calvin sun]

My son-in-law has worked for HP for a very long time and in the past 5 years, the employees have been forced to attend many "diversity" training seminars, starting with if your eye happens to catch a female (and you are male, that is)for more than 6 seconds,

LOL is it the book of Galatians that tells us that the law incites rebellion? If I were in that seminar, I would be tempted to ask the leader if I could have a clock timer that went up to 5.99 seconds. When I saw a female, I would start the clock, then when the buzzer went off I would look away.

LOL In other words, our natural condition, when given a law, is to find away around it. Without the law, we don't think about it.

[calvin sun]

What if the employee stated that he was offended by the diversity poster? Doesn't the knife cut both ways?

[dhs12345]

Just that I realize that I am at work to work and nothing else.

I have learned from past experiences to keep quiet. You are not going to change their minds and you could get fired.

I wasn't fired but I was miserable after confronting people.
And I spent a lot of time arguing with people and not a lot of time working. We eventually agreed to disagree.

And no matter how successful you are at making your point, you still may lose (your job, respect from others not involved in the debate, etc.).

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..the employee who was fired, was not fired for his beliefs, he was fired for attempting to force his beliefs on others in contradiction to the company's objectives...

Pigeon pucks, Dave.

It's HP, who's trying to force their PC diversity onto him.

[montag813]

Apparently, HP isn't as concerned with diversity as they want you to believe. Dude, we're getting a Dell...

We buy over 200 servers per year (avg price $17,000) for client installations. When I first heard of this case I decided to halt Compaq (HP subsidiary) and HP purchases (at the time 90% of our purchases). We now use only DELL. Interestingly, we have had far fewer service problems as well since making the switch.

I sent a letter to HP regarding our decision and received no response. Seems that this company cares more about appeasing homosexuals than satisfying $3 million customers. This failure to even respond merely confirmed I made the right decision. Sickening to see what is happening to American businesses. My Japanese counterparts have no such issues whatsoever.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...should they be required to remove beef from the cafeteria because it might offend Hindus?...

At their Calcutta office, perhaps. But this ain't Calcutta.

[dhs12345]

This story sure seems extreme.

If they bring it up, then it should be fair game. I would attend the seminar and would provide lots of rebuttals.

Most companies are not this bad. I wonder if the lawyers had a hand in this one. Could be that HP were sued (or threatened with a lawsuit) at one point and this is their self-imposed or required punishment.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..who runs the business, the employer or the US government, or some steenkin' judge?...

Come off it, Doggy.

You know damn well they'd only dare do this to a white het Christian.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..if you don't like the rules, you are free to work elsewhere...

Buffalo bagels. It'll be hard for this guy to get another job, in Silicon Valley.