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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 21293
[Civil]
Date Posted:
10/24/2009
12:55:46 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 3,242
RSS: 21,593
Comments: 6
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More: Wiccan Says Firing Was Religious Bias
Author: Christine Stuart Source: Courthouse News Service
Title: WICCAN SAYS FIRING WAS RELIGIOUS BIAS
A sales manager says she was fired unfairly for making her annual religious pilgrimage to Salem, Mass., to celebrate the Wiccan New Year. She claims her boss told her, "You will need a new career in your new year. ... I will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team."
In her federal complaint, Gina Uberti says she worked for Bath and Body Works for 8 years, and for 6 years had been allowed to make the annual trip in October celebrate the Wiccan holiday of Samhain.
She says she was granted her request to take vacation the week of Oct. 31, 2008 by her boss at the time, regional manager Scott Kerby. But Kerby was replaced by Sandra Scibelli, whom Bath and Body Works hired in 2008, according to the complaint.
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Community Thoughts: There are 6 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Hmmm | Oct 26th. at 5:21:14 am EDT
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Roy Linford Adams (Buxton, Maine) - Email Me
Reading through the comments it sounds like there was some discussion about what she did with her day off. The truth is, that's her perrogative. If someone takes a religious holiday off, what they do with that day is entirely up to them.
Some one can't win a case that a christian didn't observe a holiday because they went to Dennys instead of a mass. Likewise here.
Personally, we avoid Salem this time of year because it's a total zoo. The waiting lines for the shops are an annoyance. But I do have a load of fun with that one fundi who wears the signs and tries to pass out pamphelets to the crowd about how their souls are in danger. Last year I make that guy upset to the point he kicked a trashcan. All day, everytime I walked by him I would ask "No luck yet huh bub?" and briskly walk by before he had a chance to answer. About the sixth time I could see he was ready for me. Oh yeah, he had an aswer all though up and he was itching to use it. I said my line "No luck yet, huh bub?" and he immediatly replied "Actually yes, quite a few were saved just today." without even thinking about it I came back with "Oh really, so a lot of people left your church and became Witches, that's great!" Bwaa haa ha :-D That's when I saw him turn and kick the trash can.
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| I Hope ... | Oct 25th. at 12:45:55 pm EDT
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treehugger452 (Germantown, Ohio) - Email Me
that this is just one woman's opinion on Wicca, and not representative of the company. I also work for Limited Brands, as a sales associate. I have never had any problems being the only pagan I know of there, but I keep a low profile. Maybe I will be even more discrete now. I will be interested to see the outcome of this case.
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| Slander Aside, | Oct 25th. at 12:18:28 pm EDT
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TheStormofWar (Salt Lake City, Utah) - Email Me
assuming the facts of the case are correct as I've read here, Ms. Ulberti will probably have a fairly good chunk of change coming here way. Wicca is recognized as a religion and she's done this, at least, two years straight. The time was pre-approved as well.
Unless she was terminated for some other legitimate reason that isn't disclosed here...
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| Sounds Like Discrimination To Me | Oct 24th. at 9:57:26 pm EDT
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Jane Raeburn (Portland, Maine) - Email Me
If a Jewish employee were allowed to take High Holy Days off, or a Christian employee were allowed to take extra time around Christmas or Easter, then this employee should have been allowed to take her vacation at Samhain. (Let's leave aside the question of whether going to Salem is anything resembling a religious observance -- it's kind of more like a Wiccan-themed shopping mall.) The manager's remarks were out of line and the employee should be reinstated and compensated.
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| Would Love To Know All The Details... | Oct 24th. at 8:52:24 pm EDT
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MolluskSister23 (Omaha, Nebraska) - Email Me
With the understanding that neither party is going to discuss full details of the case during pending litigation, it seems to be a pretty clear-cut case of discrimination. Also, if the plaintiff worked at B&BW for 8 years and regularly took this pre-scheduled vacation, at the very least, it makes her new boss look really bad. Since the manager was "new," the company will likely fire her (if they haven't all ready) settle and pay whatever fines the Labor Dept. levies.
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| ... | Oct 24th. at 6:54:29 pm EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
I wish her luck in this.
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