Judge Backs Workers in Training Protest

A federal judge has ruled that the Minnesota Department of Corrections violated the constitutional rights of its employees when it disciplined them for reading Bibles during a training session on gays in the workplace.

Francis J. Manion, the attorney for the three employees, said U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery issued a decision this week in Minneapolis saying that “freedom to read their Bibles as a form of protest is accorded added protection against the [Department of Corrections’] asserted interests in an efficient workplace.”

The judge also ordered department officials to withdraw written reprimands made in November 1997 against the staffers.

Manion is the senior Midwestern counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, which filed the suit in April 1998 on behalf of Thomas Altman, Kristen Larson and Ken Yackly.

“This is a major victory for the rights of religious believers who are singled out and punished for their religious beliefs,” Manion said in a statement.

The Department of Corrections, based in St. Paul, Minn., issued a statement saying that it was reviewing the court decision.

“In this situation, the department issued discipline to staff for insubordination during a training session,” the department said. “The plaintiffs’ religious beliefs did not play a role in this decision. It is also important to clarify that the court did not address the appropriateness of the training required by the department.”

But Manion argued that “there was never any reason for our clients to be forced to listen to state-sponsored indoctrination about the acceptability of the homosexual lifestyle.”