Posted on 10/21/2004 12:48:09 PM PDT by Tamar1973
Austin, Texas, United States .... [ANN Staff]
An employee fired from Dynacon, Inc. of Bryan, Texas, for religious beliefs protected under federal law is seeking reinstatement to his job. Hector Rivera wants his welder's job restored, along with back pay and punitive damages, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Representing Rivera is attorney Malcolm Greenstein of Austin.
Rivera joined Dynacon in 1988 as a welder and became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in May 2002. He asked for, and received, accommodation for his belief that he should not work on Saturday, the biblical Sabbath. A new supervisor ended that practice in August 2002; when Rivera refused to work on a Saturday, he was terminated.
"This is only one of many examples of illegal discrimination against Sabbath-keepers," said Mitchell Tyner, an associate counsel for the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters. "Every year more than 1,000 Adventists [in the United States] are either denied employment or lose their jobs over their religious beliefs, which are guaranteed protection under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act."
According to Tyner, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports an 80 percent increase in religious discrimination cases during the past five years. Seventh-day Adventists, observant Jews, and members of other faith communities are among those who regularly suffer discrimination for requesting accommodation.
I think one problem for the guy in this article is that he wasn't an Adventist when he first applied, he converted later. But that doesn't give his employeer the right to discriminate against him.
This is true for me regarding working Sundays. However, my father never worked on Sunday. That was a quiet day, and all that was done was cooking. No housework, no paperwork, no chores, except dish washing.
> It's illegal to force people to work 7 days a week.
Of course, that's called slavery. If someone doesn't want to work, then you don't need to pay them or keep them on the employment rolls.
Why are you looking for a fight?
Who is justified by the law?
If salvation came through opbeying the law, then Christ would not have been necessary.
From the same employer, probably the same thing. I’m not aware of any requirement for an employer to honor religious holidays, though many do. The obvious problem here was his conversion, had he been an Adventist, or Orthodox Jew at the time of taking the job, he wouldn’t have been hired.
In the late 19th century the Reform Movement solved the work problem by moving the Sabbath to Sunday (they changed it back later) to coincide with the Christian day of rest.
And before you ask me what I knwo, my wife is a SDA member.
Given the fact that he was initially accommodated by the employer, then fired by a new supervisor, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were personal issues involved here, rather than the inability of the company to manage an off Saturday for a longstanding employee.
Freepmail ping. :-)
Mosiach's death didn't change the definition of sin, but it's penalty. Yeshua didn't die so you could desecrate the Sabbath created by G-d at Creation (not Sinai) and eat BBQ pork sandwiches.
Christians who disregards G-d's law because it isn't "necessary" or a "salvation" issue miss the point. It seems to me most Christians focus on justification (Yeshua died for me so I don't have to die) and totally forget and ignore the fact that the very Torah they disdain is the G-d given teacher of the path to sanctification (walking in righteousness and not rebelling against G-d anymore).
But we are digressing again, the point of this post is that regardless of your religious affiliation you have the right under the Consitution to have your religious liberty respected.
If you'd look up what PAUL says, you'd see that I pretty much PLAGIARISED what he said.
No, you DISTORTED what he said.
Ah Christians aren't "his true people". Galatians 3: 26-29 Btw, I'm saved by grace not the law. Christ gave me the gift of grace. Christians worship on Sunday in remembrance of Christ being Risen on the first day of the week.
It's not hard at all. The law of the land is that employers must respect the religious convictions of their employees, unless it would be a significant burden to do otherwise and a business as large as the one involved in this lawsuit can't possibly make that argument with a straight face.
In this day and age, there are plenty of people that will claim special religious priviledge. There also needs to be common sense. And it IS a difficult question because of the potential for abuse. Do I think this man should win his case? He has a precedent that was overlooked by a new boss. He was allowed to have Sat off before so they can't can him now.
Exactly! He wouldn't have been hired. According to the article, his former supervisor didn't have a problem with Mr. Rivera's religious beliefs. It wasn't until a new supervisor took over, that the problem started.
We're getting buried with that kind of attitude. Conform or starve.
REALLY?
Want to BET on it?
Read Galatians 3.
Wow! This is series... I'm stuned!
Really though, if the guy is able and willing to work the same number of hours per week as the others, working around his religious requirements, why should an employer be able to accomodate him? It shouldn't matter what day a person believes is the Sabbath. Having one day a week off to worship should be reasonable to nearly any employer.
While you're at it, read Galatians 2:11 through21
Galatians 2:21 "I do not set aside the grace of GOD, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothinig!"
Are you sure that was Adventists? That doesn't sound at all like the church I've been a member of for 48 years now. We celebrate Christmas, have Christmas trees and wreaths, and a good share of us have a good time and take our kids trick or treating on Halloween. We seem to be frequently mistaken for Mormons, Christian Scientists, and Jehovah's witnesses, all of which are quite far from our own beliefs, which are probably closest related to those of the Methodists. Our lawyers are very active in preserving religious liberty NOT in suppressing it. One of our SDA chaplains (much to the disgust of the Baptists in the town) went to bat for the Wiccans when they wanted a place to celebrate at Ft. Hood, again in the spirit of religious liberty.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.