Not So Gay Over This Marriage
It looks like the politically correct brigade is out, and this time they have landed at Brookstone, a gift shop at Boston's Logan Airport.
Peter Vadala, a deputy manager at the store, was their latest casualty. The 24 year-old was tending to his duties when in walked a manager from another store.
"I'm getting married," she said sometime during their conversation.
"Congratulations," said Vadala. "Where is he taking you for the honeymoon?"
"Where is 'she' taking me," the manager corrected.
Vadala, who is a Christian, kept mum, though after repeated references to her impeding nuptials during his shift, he privately told her that thought gay marriage was wrong. After reminding him that it is legal in Massachusetts, she opined with a parting sentiment: "HR, buddy. Keep your opinions to yourself. Get over it." And Vadala was fired.
Had he threatened to kidnap the happy couple, set fire to the hall or make off with the wedding gifts, that would have been one thing. But all he did was exercise his right to free speech and freedom of religion, so he will hopefully sue - and win if nothing else to be a crimp in the seat of the pants of that movement.
Loosely speaking, the manager also missed a chance to make a friend. While I favor a commitment ceremony over gay marriage, there are couples whose weddings I would attend, and it's because they've always been loving, kind and considerate. It's too bad no one thought about that before.
Just a couple of points to clarify:
According to the letter terminating the employment of Peter Vadala, the incident began NOT with a reference to a wedding, but rather with the manager saying that her fiancee was going to pick her up. It is when the manager corrected Vadala on his use of the male pronoun that his brain started experience electrical shorts.
Additionally, there is no evidence that she talked about a wedding after that, either. Peter's problem was that he "heard" her "mention her fiancee" 3 or so more times throughout the course of the day. (Don't we all hear coworkers talking throughout the day about their significant others, children, and other personal matters?) Also, there's no indication that she was actually talking to HIM about her fiancee (an omission that we can take to mean -- given Peter's language that he "heard" her "mention" the woman -- that she hadn't been addressing him when he "heard" her).
Peter Vadala had attended a training seminar in which he was taught about the company's policies regarding discrimination and harassment. He was aware of the company's zero-tolerance policy. He has stated this publicly.
Yet he chose to ignore the company's policies, and insulted this coworker, calling her, depending on who you believe, "deviant", "immoral", "bad"...
He does not have a right to impose his religious beliefs on others. He does not have a right to harass a fellow employee based on her sexual preference (this is both Massachusetts law and published company policy).
His comments were personally hurtful, derogatory, demeaning, judgmental, inappropriate and unprofessional. After much research on the internet, I believe the professional consensus is that he doesn't have a case. He was not fired for being a Christian, he was not fired for his personal beliefs -- he was fired for his behavior.
Legally speaking, I agree with Scott. Regardless of Vadala's personal religious beliefs, he had a responsibility to act professionally towards her while in a professional situation. I do doubt, however, that this would have become as highly publicized a case as it is if Vadala's co-worker had been talking about, say, issues regarding single motherhood and Vedala had raised an objection. Finally, while I realize that one's average work day offers limitless opportunities to shut one's trap (about one's self or other people) until the work day is over, I do believe in a personal responsibility to inform a co-worker that his or her behavior verges on harassment and offering a chance to correct behavior before going straight to HR.