Back atcha!
Posted on 03/08/2004 10:49:42 AM PST by marshmallow
BOERNE — Daniel A. Lorenz regularly wore a collared shirt to work, but it clearly wasn't the type expected in the Wal-Mart Supercenter's dress code.
He says he was fired last week upon reporting for duty in his priest's shirt with Roman collar, an Arab headdress and six crosses.
Supervisors had warned Lorenz that his job was at risk over his appearance, which they said violated dress codes and upset customers and fellow workers, particularly Catholics.
But Lorenz, 20, ignored requests to shed the shirt and collar — the main bones of contention — claiming they reflect his unique spiritual beliefs.
"I told them that would be like turning my back on God, and I couldn't do that," said the Pipe Creek man whose religious fervor was fueled by a 2001 trip to Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
There, Lorenz first donned a kaffiyeh, an Arab headdress of folded cloth that's held on by a cord. Rounding out his unorthodox look are patches on his hip pack bearing the anarchy symbol and the words "vampire" and "ninja."
Armed with secretly recorded tapes of counseling sessions with his bosses, Lorenz has filed a complaint over his March 1 dismissal by Wal-Mart with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"I believe I have been discriminated against because of my religion, universal belief," he said in a sworn affidavit filed with the agency Tuesday.
Although declining comment on Lorenz's case, Sharon Weber said from Wal-Mart headquarters that company policies are designed to be fair while promoting the professionalism and corporate identity that customers expect.
"Wal-Mart provides reasonable accommodation with respect to the dress code when it is appropriate to do so based on a bona fide religious belief," she said. The company "will not honor requests that show a lack of respect for the faiths of others."
Co-workers had varying views of Lorenz, who was a cashier and then a bakery staffer before becoming an overnight stocker for $8.30 an hour. One called him "whacko"; another said he was "a great guy."
In a year at the store, Lorenz said no one complained to him about his Muslim-Christian hybrid image, which he says reflects his nondiscriminatory philosophy about world religions.
"I don't believe in any one religion," Lorenz said in his EEOC complaint. "I do believe in God, but I don't attend any one church. There is no title to my religion other than a universal belief system."
Lorenz's ponytail and fuzzy chin reflect his belief that hair should not be cut because he is only "borrowing" his body. He won't date or marry, because all humans are family, he said, and that would make it incest.
In meetings taped by Lorenz, Wal-Mart supervisors can be heard explaining that his dress is confusing and upsetting customers and associates.
"What I do shows a nondiscriminatory (view) toward any religions," responds Lorenz.
"But how do you think people perceive it?" counters the manager. "Remember, perception is 100 percent of it all."
In another session, a speaker identified as store manager Steve Shadrock says Wal-Mart's home office has concluded he is in violation of the dress code.
"It has nothing to do with what you believe in," he says.
Lorenz's mother, who works at Wal-Mart, said she's the only other adherent to her son's spiritual doctrine, which is now being put to paper.
"We haven't found anybody who believes as strongly as we do," said Catherine Lorenz, 44. "We were Baptists until about three years ago, and then we got really deep into this type of belief."
News of the dress code feud surprised Earl Floyd, a salesman at a Bandera auto dealership that last year gave Lorenz a 1985 Suburban after his old car died and he didn't qualify for financing on a newer one.
"I've seen him a dozen times, but never with the headdress," Floyd said Thursday.
Also filing an EEOC complaint Tuesday was Melanie Lorenz, Daniel's sister, who claims Wal-Mart fired her last month in retaliation for reporting a co-worker's inappropriate remarks.
Only thing missing was the C4 stapped to his chest.. to no doubt shred some prices and few fellow empolyees..
They will hire people who I believe belong in an institution...or someone who doesn't even have complete control over their mind.
Ayup, that's the reason.
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