Posted on 07/20/2005 7:57:26 AM PDT by Woodland
Attorney: Fired Allstate Employee's Trial Carries Implications for Religious Freedom
By Jim Brown July 19, 2005
(AgapePress) - There's a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday (July 20) in the case of a former Allstate employee who claims the insurance company fired him for writing an article against homosexual "marriage." The outcome of the case will likely determine whether a Christian employee can be fired for expressing his religious beliefs while off the job.
Former Allstate security manager Matt Barber recently filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging viewpoint discrimination. An investigation by the state of Illinois concluded that Barber was terminated because an "outside organization" complained about an article he wrote on his own time. The article defending traditional marriage appeared on several conservative Internet sites. (See earlier article)
Barber's attorney, Matt Davis, says there is a great deal riding on the outcome of the case.
"As we get more and more politically correct in our society, [large] employers like Allstate [that employ] literally hundreds of thousands ...are beginning to try to 'mellow out' the message that not only they make as a corporation, but then also then what is reflected amongst their employees," the attorney says, adding that he sees irony in the situation. "Here you have a company, in the name of tolerance, exercising an extreme degree of intolerance."
Since the state investigation, Allstate has backed off its original claim and is arguing Barber was not fired because of his conservative views. Davis says the Fortune 100 company is backpedaling.
"It would be one thing if you had a manager disseminating this kind of information to his employees and misusing the company systems or somehow on company time espousing views that they don't agree with. That would be one thing," he says. "But here we're talking about a guy from his home computer who takes a position from the Bible that he believes, and the company reaching into his living room and saying, 'We don't agree with that -- you're outta here.'"
Allstate has been a strong supporter of same-sex marriage by giving thousands of dollars in donations to homosexual activist groups. According to the American Family Association, Allstate gave $10,000 to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a homosexual organization which promotes homosexual marriage; $5,000 to the Indiana University office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services; and $15,000 to the Gay & Lesbian Center in Los Angeles. AFA says Allstate also supports homosexual websites with advertising dollars.
In addition, the insurance company was listed by Diversity Inc. recently in its "Top 10 Companies for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Employees." Joining Allstate on that list were such household names as Eastman Kodak, Ford Motor Company, Citigroup, Pepsico, Merck and Company, and the Coca-Cola Company.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
Employers should be able to hire and fire anyone for any reason or no reason at all.
But, no. Property rights have gone the way of the dinosaurs.
The PC Nazis are at it again. What about that First amendment the libs are so fond of spouting about? Does it only apply to them?
"Here you have a company, in the name of tolerance, exercising an extreme degree of intolerance."
Typical Liberal Newspeak. Taking away freedoms in the name of freedom. Never Allstate for anything.
Blessings, Bobo
"Employers should be able to hire and fire anyone for any reason or no reason at all."
Can an employer fire someone for the reason that they will not have a sexual fling with the boss? How about someone who is Chinese, and the new boss hates Chinese? What if an employee will not come to your house and clean out your gutters? You DID say any reason?
Are you ready for your employer to fire you because he/she doesn't like what you watch on TV at home in the evening? I know it sounds far-fetched, but that's where big brother and extreme PC are headed.
If the employee wrote something that draws attention to the company in anyway, they have the right to fire him. Also, if the company has a pre-stated policy regarding writing/publishing, or even moonlighting policies, then they may have fired the employee justly. However, if the employee writes an article and therein he is unidentifiable as a company employee, then the company should leave him alone.
Ahem, I don' think so! If I'm sitting in a bar ON MY OWN TIME and my boss does not drink you're saying that gives him the right to fire me? I DON'T THINK SO.
It's not your job. It belongs to your boss. He can fill that job with anyone he damn well pleases. It's his money to spend. If he doesn't like the way you [fill in the blank], he can kick you off of his property and bring in someone more to his liking.
You have not answered my questions?
Allstate is pro-homosexual and anti-Christian.
http://afa.net/allstate05.asp
The firing of Mr. Barber is in keeping with Allstate's promotion of the homosexual agenda including homosexual marriage. A few examples:
· Gave $10,000 to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a homosexual organization which promotes homosexual marriage.
· Supports homosexual websites with advertising dollars.
· Gave $5,000 to the Indiana University office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services.
· Gave $15,000 to the Gay & Lesbian Center in Los Angeles.-
Yes, I did.
It's not your job. Surely there are other and better ways of dealing with unreasonable employers. Government's legislating and regulating how and when and on whom a capitalist can spend his capital cannot possibly be the best answer.
"Government's legislating and regulating how and when and on whom a capitalist can spend his capital cannot possibly be the best answer."
The reason why the government has done just this is because employers have in the past, fired people for the reasons I wrote about earlier. The government has had to step in and protect the worker because the employer had the power, money, and resources; and the employee had none of these. And sadly it is still going on even today, as we see in the posted article above.
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
More on the story about Matt Barber, the former Allstate employee who was fired for writing an article supporting marriage (aka as "anti gay marriage") not during work time, nor as a representative of his company.
Implications abound.
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
Note: In our brave new world, "tolerance" means "intolerance" of conservative, moral, or religious values. "Inclusion" means immorality must be shoved down everyone's throat regardless of religious affiliation.
... because politicians are all too happy to step in and fix whatever ails the voters, rather than acknowledge the fact that it's not the government's role.
Rather than turning to Uncle Sam for help, workers could, for instance, pool their measly resources to form a coalition and expose and put pressure on a-hole employers such as those you mentioned.
But, that would require some real effort, and politicians are all too happy to do whatever it takes to make the people like them. After all, we elected them to help us.
Allstate's new slogan, "Allstate has its good hands in you."
Fine. If you see yourself as your employer's property.
Really? You want to live in a Country where your boss can fire you because you won't go on a date with him? Or your anti-semetic Supervisor axes you for wearing a Star of David around your neck. Or your gay boss fires you for having a Jesus fish on your car? How about the guy in the cubicle next to you just doesn't like the way you laugh. Don't you want to retract that ridiculous statement?
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