County Worker Will Keep Contending for Religious Freedom
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
August 24, 2004
(AgapePress) - A California man is not giving up his fight to display his Christian faith at his place of employment.Last year Daniel Berry, a Tehama County Department of Social Services employee, filed suit against the county, arguing that he was discriminated against on the basis of his religious beliefs. Berry claimed his supervisors told him he could not discuss his faith with his clients. He says they also prevented him from displaying religious items in his employee work space.
A district court sided with the county and ruled against Berry. But now the Pacific Justice Institute has filed an appeal with the higher Ninth Circuit Court. Brad Dacus, PJI's president, feels the case is a clear example of government hostility against religion.
| | 
Brad Dacus |
"Religious people -- and Christians particularly -- should not have to put up with being treated as second-class citizens and have to hide their faith simply because they are in the workplace," Dacus says. He points out that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees' religious beliefs.Dacus asserts that Tehama County would not have suffered any undue hardship by "allowing Mr. Berry to keep his Bible on his personal desk, meet with other believers during lunchtime, or discuss his faith with clients who asked for prayer and guidance."
But since the lower court sided with the county, the head of PJI believes the appeal is warranted -- and he says the client is eager to pursue the matter. "Daniel Barry is an excellent employee," he notes, adding that the Christian worker is still employed with the county and "maintaining a good attitude despite the treatment that he's received."
But while Berry is "responding and acting as a model Christian in this situation," Dacus says, "Nonetheless, it's really important to him that other Christians and people who work for government agencies not be put on the back of the bus and treated as a second-class citizen, just because they are Christian."
James Griffiths, assistant counsel for PJI, also makes the point that by preventing the Christian employee from integrating his faith into his work, the county was actually hindering him in the performance of his job.
Griffiths describes Berry's position with the county's Department of Social Services as "a helping profession where every day he communicated with clients whose lives are in varying degrees of personal turmoil." By prohibiting Berry from ever communicating with clients about issues of faith, the attorney says the state "impeded his ability to forge appropriate and beneficial relationships with his clients in their time of need."
Griffiths says his legal organization commends Berry's efforts to minister to individuals expressing the need for spiritual encouragement, and PJI is honored to fight for the Christian worker's right to be "salt and light" at his place of employment.
