Woman Loses Her Job of 24 Years For Giving Very Common Pleasantry to Customers

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: bonnie

Back to why is it so urgent for so many people to claim to be offended?

I don't know, but why are you offended that they are offended?

I am annoyed/offended by those that think they are so special they have a right to walk thru life never offended.

When offended look to controlling the words another uses,or by all that's holy,let's make a law.

Whether it is the 65 year old women that identify themselves as "cougar's" because of a roll in the hay with a 20 year old and now seem to think that cougar should not be used as a mascot or someone wishing another Merry Christmas instead of the PC Happy Holiday's,self important people do annoy me.

Twice I have witnessesed a similar experience of this type of "inappropriate offensive speech".

Much prefer the reaction of "a non-christian" "To smile if you love Jesus" in a dept store by a cashier.The man graciously responded by saying he was not a christian,but her beautiful smile was something he really needed that day and thanked her for that. The second one replied that at times we need to be reminded that there is something more than "us". Glad she wasn't dealing with a "tolerant SDA".

[bonnie]

In regard to the above post and a private email message ... yes, it is enough to stop me from wishing anyone a happy/blessed/or evil Sabbath!!! I thought this to be a Christian forum and many Sunday keeping friends that I know wish each other Happy Sabbath ... it appears we have wondered farther and farther away from clubadventist

A question: Which law is going to protect me from being offended?

We probably will get one soon enough. Or those that are offended by that could probably solve the problem by not reading it

[Bravus]

There was no law involved here. A private company disciplined an employee who refused reasonable requests to make their business premises safe and friendly for *all* customers.

The story is just a Daily Mail/Fox News beatup about 'Christianity under attack!!1!', but the slightest additional scrutiny and it falls apart.

[CoAspen]

[CoAspen]

In support of Bravus comment about the Daily Mail being a 'legitimate' source for news.

Other peoples issues with Daily Mail as a 'source'.

[debbym]

Quote:

The forum is a bit different obviously than the workplace,but would knowing that there are those that find it offensive be enough for you to stop doing so?

If it would not stop you,why not?

Do you need a law passed before you stop offending someone?

if i am being courteous, and sincere, and giving a positive greeting and someone is offended, at this point i would say it is their problem not mine.

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

if i am being courteous, and sincere, and giving a positive greeting and someone is offended, at this point i would say it is their problem not mine.

And if you were to learn that regardless of your intention, your greeting was offensive, hurtful more, what then.

This is the central issue in some EO Cases.

An appropriate response is: Tell me more. I would like to understand.

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

A question: Which law is going to protect me from being offended?

"Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”John 13:33-35 NLT

God cares! Jesus saves!

[LifeHiscost]

Naomi, I am glad that you would think to wish me a happy anything!!

God cares! Jesus saves!

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

I am annoyed/offended by those that think they are so special they have a right to walk thru life never offended.

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."Psalm 119:165 KJV

"Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.Deuteronomy 4:10 KJV

"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV

"These things I command you, that you love one another.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. "

John 15:17-19 NKJV

God cares! Jesus saves!

[LifeHiscost]

Maybe you wouldn't mind speaking to Jesus about what I'm making effort to accomplish in the mobile village where I live. Perhaps sharing it with the group with which you meet.

I figure that in this senior park and having lived within shouting distance of at least one person every year having passed, at least one by suicide with a firearm, and another under suspicious circumstances, there may be some who would appreciate some of the many promises given by Jesus, that there is something better ahead for those who welcome His invitation.

"“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."Matthew 11:27-29 NLT

Gos cares! Jesus saves!

[bonnie]

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."Psalm 119:165 KJV

"Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.Deuteronomy 4:10 KJV

"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV

"These things I command you, that you love one another.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. "

John 15:17-19 NKJV

We had a gentleman in our church some years ago that seemed to be only able to respond with scripture. Really didn't matter

what the topic or even if the scripture was relevant to what was being said.

He had to be stopped from greeting members and visitors as he was literally driving people away. He destroyed a very good sabbath school class by doing this.There wasn't any discussion it was simply one text after another being quoted.

The more he annoyed people the more justified he felt as surely God had impressed on him the texts that would have the needed impact on those that needed it. He certainly could not

blamed because you could not go wrong with biblical

instruction.

Many times others tried to tell him kindly that what he was

doing was inappropriate and having the opposite of the desired effect.

After driving many away he was finally asked to leave and when he wouldn't and persisted, then more forcibly told that he must. He was and still is, I am sure, convinced that he was being persecuted for "Christ's sake".Only sharing the gospel as

he felt impressed to and the objection to that meant people did not want to hear the truth.

[bonnie]

And if you were to learn that regardless of your intention, your greeting was offensive, hurtful more, what then.

This is the central issue in some EO Cases.

An appropriate response is: Tell me more. I would like to understand.

There are those that almost seem to make it a life's work to be offended. Everyone will be offended at one time or another when no offense was intended.

While there isn't any reason to deliberately offend someone that shouldn't call for being at the control of those who use " I am offended" to control what is being said around them

[Gregory Matthews]

Bonnie:

In regard to post # 702522, excellent response.

[joeb]

No one has a right to be offensive to another.

No one can expect to succeed in business if they are offensive to customers.

No one can expect to be continued in employment if they offend customers.

NOTE: Under current law, in EO cases, offense is determined not by the intent of the one who made the comment, but by how the person received it.

As I understand the post, the woman was informed that "several complaints" had been made. At that point she should have said that she would change her greeting.

To put this in perspective: What if her greeting had been, "May Shiva give you a blessed day."

That greeting might be in accord with the religious beliefs of an employee, but many of us posting here would object to such and want the employee to stop greeting us in that manner.

So, if someone is looking to be offended it is the responsibility of all other people to change who they are to accommodate that person's rudeness and desire to force them to change their way of life and beliefs?

Political correctness is destroying our society, and this incident is one example of how this is happening. The person filing the complaint is saying they have the right to control another person's behavior in something as innocuous as how they greet other people. So what if someone greets me in the following way: Satan says, have a good day. Does that greeting affect me? No. Should I complain about that person's greeting to their employer and in so doing force my beliefs, likes, and dislikes upon them? No. That goes against everything the US was founded upon, and against all good manners and politeness, let alone against my understanding of God.

Political correctness is nothing other than the progressive's attack upon personal freedoms. It is used to shut down discussion on issues the far left, politically, want to ram down the US public's throat. It's like crying racist at every opportunity so that people will be quiet and allow those with a political agenda to dominate the public discourse.

[Gail]

Is the salutation something that the employer can dictate to its workers? Because how the server interacts with the customer reflects also on the business.

[Bravus]

joeb, *she was not fired for the greeting*. The original story that started this thread was false.

She was fired because in addition to the greeting she also told off customers in the bank for 'taking the Lord's name in vain', and preached to them that they needed to find salvation in Jesus. Actually, she wasn't fired for those things either. She was fired because, when she was warned by her employer to stop doing those things, she refused.

She was a bad employee who made the business premises hostile for some of the customers on which the business relied for its survival. She was fired for that.

[bonnie]

joeb, *she was not fired for the greeting*. The original story that started this thread was false.

She was fired because in addition to the greeting she also told off customers in the bank for 'taking the Lord's name in vain', and preached to them that they needed to find salvation in Jesus. Actually, she wasn't fired for those things either. She was fired because, when she was warned by her employer to stop doing those things, she refused.

She was a bad employee who made the business premises hostile for some of the customers on which the business relied for its survival. She was fired for that.

What I find interesting is a customer that felt justified in using the Lord's name as a profanity becomes offended when it is used in a positive way.

I would not have said what she did,but would have felt somewhat foolish if I were the customer offending others and then complaining because I was offended

[Bravus]

'Offense' is not the issue. I know this thread has digressed in that direction, but it's really not. This case is *not* about the right to not be offended. It's got nothing to do with that. It's about the right to conduct business without being solicited for a product or service irrelevant to the product or service for which one has come looking. It's equivalent to a hawker setting up to sell stuff in the bank's foyer, or an employee hectoring clients to buy Tupperware when they get to the teller's window. It's completely inappropriate, and the religious context shouldn't blind people to that.

[bonnie]

'Offense' is not the issue. I know this thread has digressed in that direction, but it's really not. This case is *not* about the right to not be offended. It's got nothing to do with that. It's about the right to conduct business without being solicited for a product or service irrelevant to the product or service for which one has come looking. It's equivalent to a hawker setting up to sell stuff in the bank's foyer, or an employee hectoring clients to buy Tupperware when they get to the teller's window. It's completely inappropriate, and the religious context shouldn't blind people to that.

Had the customer not been offended when he was taking the Lord's name in vain he would not have complained.

If people did not claim to be offended by being told to have a blessed day it would not have become an issue

[Bravus]

Do you know a customer complained? Might this woman's supervisors not have noted her actions?

[bonnie]

Do you know a customer complained? Might this woman's supervisors not have noted her actions?

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

So, if someone is looking to be offended it is the responsibility of all other people to change who they are to accommodate that person's rudeness and desire to force them to change their way of life and beliefs?

Nothing has been stated about being forced to change one's beliefs, or even way of life.

However, life always has boundaries. Freedom of speech does not give one a right to yell "fire" in a theatre, when there is none.

Yes, in an employment situation, there is a body of law that both proscribes and prescribes how one employee should relate to another employee.

The case law related to the statute is quite clear: When you are advised that your are considered offensive by another employee, it is your responsibility to stop. Again, there are boundaries. These boundaries can be litigated, if you want to go to that expense.

Yes, the issue in question did not involve two employees. it involved one employee and several customers.

In such a situation, few business owners would allow an employee who refused to quite offending customers to continue to be employed.

[CoAspen]

Quote:

The case law related to the statute is quite clear: When you are advised that your are considered offensive by another employee, it is your responsibility to stop. Again, there are boundaries. These boundaries can be litigated, if you want to go to that expense.

And I would add, just plain common sense! Being in the medical business, our customers take high priority. If it offends the customer, so be it. It is our obligation to change the behavior/speech in the interest of customer satisfaction.

Not sure, like Bravus says, why this is so difficult to understand. We had a Jewish lady that complained about Christmas music is her 'space', we turned it off. We have an employee who thought playing a christian radio station was okay, wrong. Our rights stop where the others begin. We do not talk or use religion code words in our conversation with any customer, they are all treated the same.

As a forum that says it is all about SDA christianity, wheres the beef?

[joeb]

Quote:

The case law related to the statute is quite clear: When you are advised that your are considered offensive by another employee, it is your responsibility to stop. Again, there are boundaries. These boundaries can be litigated, if you want to go to that expense.

And I would add, just plain common sense! Being in the medical business, our customers take high priority. If it offends the customer, so be it. It is our obligation to change the behavior/speech in the interest of customer satisfaction.

Not sure, like Bravus says, why this is so difficult to understand. We had a Jewish lady that complained about Christmas music is her 'space', we turned it off. We have an employee who thought playing a christian radio station was okay, wrong. Our rights stop where the others begin. We do not talk or use religion code words in our conversation with any customer, they are all treated the same.

As a forum that says it is all about SDA christianity, wheres the beef?

So, in other words, your customers have no idea that you are Christians. There is no evidence of this "fact", because if they find out they might claim they were "offended". Really? You think this is how Jesus said we should live our lives? I thought the the first work of the Christian was to live so that others would know immediately who you are and what you stand for. You seem to be a long ways away from that.

What condition would this world be in if that is how Jesus lived His life, and went about His work? Would anyone have ever known what He stood for, and the truths He was opening to people's lives and hearts? I think not. If someone is offended over truth that's exactly what Jesus said would happen. Did He say, change your life because some takes offense, or did He say, Let your light so shine? I see no evidence that Jesus wanted us to accommodate those who take offense at truth in the Bible. Is it loving to let someone die for lack of knowledge because another person might take offense? I think not. I think that is the moral equivalent of murder.