Christian GM Employee Taking Automaker to Court
by Allie Martin
April 27, 2004
(AgapePress) - One of the world's largest automakers is being sued because it refused a request from a Christian employee to start an affinity group.Last year, John Moranski, an employee at a General Motors plant in Indianapolis, asked company officials for permission to organize the GM Christian Employee Network as a GM affinity group. His request was denied because GM company policy states that affinity groups can be based on race, gender, disabilities, and sexual orientation -- but not on religion.
Now Moranski has sued GM, claiming the company's "diversity" policies are discriminatory against Christians. Barbara Weller is with the Christian Law Association, which is representing Moranski in the lawsuit. She says it is in vogue to discriminate against Christians.
"We're seeing from all the calls that are coming into our office that discrimination against Christians in the workplace is becoming a serious problem," Weller says. "In one sense, it's only the Christians -- and particularly, born-again or fundamentalist Christians -- who are kind of available for bashing at no cost.
"We believe that Christians need to be treated like everyone else in the workplace -- and therefore, if affinity groups are available, then they must be available for Christians also."
The attorney explains that GM's employment policy states that political and religious viewpoints cannot be promoted in the workplace. She says Moranski's group is not going to do that.
"They're going to be an interdenominational group," she says. "They're not going to be proselytizing, they're not going to be putting any other religious down, they're not going to be promoting their religion in the workplace. They just want the opportunity to meet on the same basis as everyone else is meeting."
Each approved affinity group has access to meet in company facilities and is given company resources to help support the group's mission.
