Gay NY Chef Awarded $1.6M After Restaurant Owner Forced Staff to Attend Anti-gay Prayer Meetings

[beam me up scottie]

Last edited Thu Oct 16, 2014, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)

To show my support for Heddi and my contempt for anyone who thinks it's better to stfu and get over it:

Gay NY Chef Awarded $1.6M After Restaurant Owner Forced Staff to Attend Anti-gay Prayer Meetings
By Kyler Geoffroy

The owner of a chain of Mexican restaurants in New York has been ordered to pay a lesbian chef $1.6 million in damages after repeatedly saying “gay people” were “going to go to hell” during mandatory staff prayer meetings. The Raw Story reports:

According to [Mirella] Salemi, who sued under the New York City Human Rights Law, (Edward ) Globokar compelled his staff to attend weekly prayer meetings that were essentially mandatory because with the restaurant staff believing they would lose their jobs if they failed to attend.

At the meetings, Globokar would repeatedly call homosexuality a sin, and tell his staff that “gay people” were “going to go to hell.”

According to Salemi’s lawyer Derek Smith, Globokar also instructed Salemi to dress more “effeminately,” and that she should marry a man and have children.

In affirming the earlier verdict, A three-judge panel of the Appellate Division’s Manhattan-based First Department wrote: “Additional evidence demonstrated that as a result of Globokar’s improper conduct, plaintiff was retaliated against for objecting to his offensive comments, choosing not to attend workplace prayer meetings and refusing to fire another employee because of his sexual orientation.”

The appeals court rejected Globokar’s argument that he was merely exercising his First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

“The trial court properly protected Globokar’s First Amendment rights by instructing the jury that he had ‘a right to express his religious beliefs and practice religion, providing that he does not discriminate against his employees based on religion or sexual orientation,” the justices wrote.

http://www.towleroad.com/2014/03/-gay-ny-chef-awarded-16-m-after-restaurant-owner-forced-staff-to-attend-anti-gay-prayer-meetings-.html

Notice that this happened in New York City where all liberals don't think being coerced to attend religious meetings at work is No Big Deal.


eta: this is directed at only one person in her thread, (you know who you are) everyone else was trying to be helpful

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Hey, Heddi,

Maybe this is the way to go. Especially since it is all about the money.

I love to hear stories like this. It is so inappropriate to force religion on anyone, and this one goes even further by some of the comments she has to endure. Good call by the courts.

[beam me up scottie]

2. I know.

It's awesome that the employee didn't have to prove that he literally FORCED her to go to the meetings.

[Gelliebeans]

3. K and R nt

[beam me up scottie]

4. Hi!

[Gelliebeans]

5. Hey you

[RussBLib]

6. you mean there are Christians in New York City?!?!

shocking! the poor dears.

[beam me up scottie]

7. The New Yorker who dismissed Heddi's complaints is a self-proclaimed atheist.

And I just realized he scrubbed his posts in her thread which pisses me off even more.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/123029636#post51

My atheist dad is a native New Yawker who was beaten as a small child in catechism for asking questions.

That only happened once, he refused to go back even after his parents tried to force him.