-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Religion causing office problems Employee reprimanded for wishing her co-workers a `blessed day'; situation is becoming more common BY GREGORY WEAVER Indianapolis Star and News INDIANAPOLIS: It was Liz Anderson's habit to wish everyone a blessed day -- until her bosses ordered her to stop spreading her faith-tinged brand of sunshine. USF Logistics of Indianapolis reprimanded the office worker this summer for continuing to offer the blessing after she was repeatedly instructed to knock it off. She's stopped now because she knows another transgression could result in more severe punishment, including dismissal. It says so right in the written reprimand she received from her bosses, who took the action after a client at software giant Microsoft Corp. objected to Anderson's religious greeting. So Anderson is complying, but not happily. ``I don't see what's wrong with it,'' said Anderson, a devout Christian and member of Phillips Temple CME Church in Indianapolis. ``There's nothing that religious about what I say. It's just my way of saying, `Have a nice day.' '' Anderson's dilemma is increasingly more common in the American workplace, where even innocuous religious practices can cause a ruckus. Since 1992, the number of religious discrimination complaints filed annually with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has increased nearly 29 percent, to 1,786 in 1998. Religious groups cite instances in which Muslim women were prohibited from wearing their religious head coverings to work, Jews were forbidden to wear yarmulkes and Christians were forced to work Christmas Day even though other employees had volunteered to fill in for them. They say these things are happening because a federal law adopted in 1964 gives employers great leeway in denying religious practices that might cause a company ``undue hardship.'' So groups as diverse as the National Council of Churches, the American Jewish Committee and the National Sikh Center are supporting legislation to restore protections for religious freedom at work. ``What is attempting to be addressed here are things as simple as a worker bowing his head and saying a simple prayer in the lunchroom or reading Scripture during their break time,'' said former U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican who helped lead the fight for the Religious Workplace Freedom Act during his final two years in office. It didn't pass, but Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is continuing the fight this year. Even if it becomes law, Coats said, he doubts the legislation would address Anderson's situation. He said the proposal is aimed primarily at requiring employers to provide time off for the religious observances of workers of all faiths -- when it is financially feasible. The provision would apply to companies with 15 or more workers. However, the proposal also would expand workplace accommodations for the ``religious practices'' of employees. Advocates say that provision could apply to religious attire or maybe even a routine religious expression such as ``God bless you'' or ``Have a blessed day.'' Regardless, Coats said, Anderson's case is an ``absurd situation'' that appears to offer little grounds for disciplinary action. ``It seems to me that most people receiving a courteous greeting like that are going to think very highly of the company it came from,'' Coats said. ``I guess the alternative would be to tell them to have a miserable day.'' Doug Christensen, president and CEO of Illinois-based USF Logistics, said not everyone feels comfortable receiving such greetings. He defended his company, saying it had a long-standing policy of prohibiting religious or political speech in business correspondence. Workplace attorneys agree that USF probably was justified in prohibiting religious speech in correspondence to Microsoft because one of its employees had objected. However, they say the company might have overstepped its bounds when it expanded the prohibition to all forms of speech in the workplace. Dianna Johnston, an attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C., said employers increase their exposure to discrimination complaints when issuing such broad policies on the basis of a single complaint. At the very least, USF probably could have spared itself public scrutiny had it worked with Anderson to try to reach an amicable compromise, said Kevin Betz, an Indianapolis workplace attorney. Increasingly, though, workers are becoming willing to take such disputes public because they are learning that employers don't necessarily have the final say. Anderson said she's never entertained thoughts of filing an EEOC complaint. She said she doesn't want to hurt anyone; she simply wants to right a wrong. ``I feel like I should be able to express myself in that small way, even at work,'' she said. ``It's not doing anybody no harm.'' Reminded that going public with her concerns could further strain relations with her employer, she said: ``I'm not worried about that. Even though my husband works at the same place, it's not a worry. I've prayed about it, and it's in the Lord's hands now. ``Don't you worry about it either,'' she told a reporter. ``You're a blessing. I know you are. And you have a blessed week, now, you hear?'' **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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