Reed v. The Great Lakes Companies, Inc.

330 F.3d 931 (7th Cir. 2003)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was hired to be the executive housekeeper of D. One of his duties was to see to it that a copy of the Bible, supplied free of charge to the hotel by the Gideons, was placed in every room. It is customary for representatives of management to meet with the Gideons when they deliver Bibles to a newly opened hotel. P had been working for Great Lakes for less than a month when the Gideons showed up to deliver the Bibles. A few days before their scheduled arrival, the manager had told Reed in a joking manner that they were going to 'pray with the Gideons,' which D understood to mean that, given his responsibility for the distribution of the Bibles to the rooms, he was to accompany the manager to the meeting at which they would receive the Bibles from the Gideons. Reed did not object to attending the meeting. The Gideons, besides delivering Bibles, did some Bible reading and some praying. P was offended by the religious character of the meeting and left in the middle. Later that day, the manager ran into P and told him: 'Don't do that again, you embarrassed me.' P replied: 'You can't compel me to a religious event,' to which the manager replied that P would do what he was told to do. P responded, 'Oh, hell no, you won't, not when it comes to my spirituality,' whereupon the manager fired him for insubordination. P sued d under Title VII. At deposition, P refused to indicate what if any religious affiliation or beliefs (or non-beliefs) he has; refused even to deny that he might be a Gideon! P's position was that Title VII forbids an employer to require an employee to attend a religious meeting, period. The court granted summary judgment to D and P appealed.