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Discrimination against any class of worker that does the job hurts only the business in the long run.

I concur 100%

I think if his objective had NOT been to intentionally offend, he would have a legit case (whether I agree with him or not).

And we agree here too. If he had a cross hanging in his office, I doubt he'd be targetted. But he chose to use his religion as a weapon, to create a hostile work environment. Hardly Christ-like, IMHO. This cannot be tolerated by any company, whether it's Christianity, Jewish, Islamic, Satanic or Wiccan (or buddist, hindu, ect.).

That said, I would love to see the 9th get overturned on this one, and the turmoil it could cause.

This is where we disagree. I don't want the gov't stepping in and telling me (as a private business) that you have to tolerate a religious bigot spouting hate towards anyone. That means that I would have to tolerate a Palestinian screaming for the murder of every Jew in my employ. I'd have to suffer through every bible beater who felt obliged to come give a sermon while I had no choice but to sit and listen. Just about everyone HAS to work, we do not have a choice. At home, we can either accept this behavior, or ignore it. But at work, we are captive. I, for one, do not want ANYONE selling their religion to me. I have my own, I'm quite happy with it; and who, when, and how I worship is no body's business. I prefer it stay that way.

I think we're in agreement for the most part in that I don't want anyone selling their religion to me, either, but I think that HP made the decision that they would sell religion to their employees when the workplace became a place for sensitivity training posters. There are people who are violently sexist, racist, and homophobic, yet work just fine with others. This was obviously the case here--the worker was not fired for incompetence but for overtly refusing to agree with the employer about things that do not affect the workers' ability to produce, i.e., his personal religious beliefs.

If the guy wanted to have a turban or wear a burkha or blood red sunglasses, no biggie. If the guy's beliefs actively disrupt the workplace, say, he's a Santeria chicken slicer and he's cutting and they're squawking in his cubicle, no. But this is not a situation where he is actively disrupting--it's just his cubicle wall where something is posted. I think that it's inappropriate personally, just as I think it's inappropriate that pinups or other crap that isn't work related get put up in the workplace, but you know, once posters that are intended to promote a pro-homosexual agenda get plastered up, that is a different thing.

The ultimate end here is the same--you don't want to have to hire people you don't agree with and you want the right to fire them at will. I am 100% in concurrence with that. I think, however, that the 9th will have to be overturned and the workplace become a complete nightmare before things change. Otherwise, it'll remain as it is, an anti-white-christian-male breeding ground for lawsuits, and that's every bit as bad as a sexist-racist-homophobic one.