Satan No Obstacle to Settlement - COTW #14

My apologies for the sparse blogging this week, I'll be back on track next week. But you knew I wouldn't let you down on the Case of the Week, right? This religious discrimination case has been going on for a few months and recently settled.

All three employees of the Ohio Worker's Compensation Counsel made some startling allegations after they were all terminated. Per this Cleveland.com article, they charged that the executive director:

declared to the staff that she was sent by God to her job, she wanted God to permeate the workplace, and Satan was to blame for obstacles the staff encountered in their jobs. She inquired about their religious beliefs, called them in to pray aloud, cited scripture in her reprimands and asked [one of them] to listen to CDs of sermons and take notes on them.

Sounds like an interesting work environment!

While Satan may have provided many obstacles in the workplace, he was no match for the negotiating parties. Details of a recent tentative $70,000 settlement are available from this usworkerscomp.com story.

Hat Tip: Mason law classmate and fellow employment lawyer Derek Bottcher of Paul Hastings for passing along a blog entry on this story from earlier this week.

Posted by Philip Miles, an employment lawyer with McQuaide Blasko in State College, Pennsylvania.