LITTLE ROCK — A former state lawmaker who suggested a previous ruling by a federal judge could contribute to the demise of civilization now has that same judge - U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright - hearing a religious-discrimination case involving his company.
A man from White County claims former Democratic state Rep. John Lowery of El Dorado fired him after Lowery learned of his pagan religious beliefs shortly after he was hired as a driver at Premier Well Services’ Searcy facility.
Eugene Keeler has the backing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in his legal fight, which argues that his religious freedom was violated by Lowery’s company, based in El Dorado.
Lowery told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he has wondered if the suit amounts to payback for his vociferous opposition to Wright’s 2009 ruling that a freethinkers’ group could erect a winter solstice display near a traditional Nativity scene on the Capitol grounds.
“I don’t know if it’s a setup,” said Lowery, who left the Legislature because of term limits this year. “I don’t know what to think.”
Federal judges hardly ever comment on pending cases and Wright didn’t comment on the current discrimination case.
CAPITOL NATIVITY
In December 2009, Lowery pushed for the Arkansas Legislative Council to denounce Wright’s ruling, saying that the state’s residents were “angry and fearful” that atheists and other non-Christians had a display near the Capitol Nativity. Then-Secretary of State Charlie Daniels had denied permission for the freethinkers’ display before Wright’s ruling.
Lawmakers would be “cursed” if they didn’t object to the non-Christian display, Lowery said at the time.
“History tells us when this is allowed to happen in high places by people in authority this is what happens: Societies become chaotic, economies collapse and nations are taken over by other nations,” Lowery said at the legislative meeting.
PAGAN BELIEFS
Keeler’s wife said that the EEOC has instructed him not to speak to the press.
Lowery’s previous remarks about Wright and religion didn’t play any role in the commission’s decision to pursue Keeler’s complaint, said William Cash, district director in the EEOC’s Little Rock office.
The details of the case are laid out in competing court filings.
Keeler was issued a cell phone and worked as a driver for four hours for the company in January 2010 before being dismissed, he says in his filing.
He contends that the company’s general manager asked about his weekend availability. Keeler said he was available to work weekends because he didn’t attend church services.
When asked why he didn’t go to church, Keeler said he was a pagan. The general manager replied he didn’t know what pagan meant, so Keeler described his beliefs.
Pagans range from adherents to Wicca to followers of old Norse religions and other nature-based religions. Pagans often believe in a female deity and in many gods, which puts them at odds with the monotheistic structure of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Recent scholarly estimates suggest as many as 1 million Americans might subscribe to pagan beliefs, according to a 2009 New York Times article.
The court documents don’t reveal the content of Keeler’s beliefs, but he contends that he was fired a few hours after telling the general manager about them.
Premier Well Services disputes that Keeler ever worked for the company.
“He interviewed for the job, but he didn’t get the job,” Lowery said. The general manager didn’t have the authority to hire him without Lowery’s consent, court filings say.
Deciding not to hire Keeler had nothing to do with his religion, Lowery said.
“I don’t know what my employees do on Sunday or Saturday or Monday or whatever. I don’t know if they’re Baptist, Methodist or whatever,” said Lowery, who is a Baptist. “We hire on the merits. We’re a small family business, but we honor all rules and regulations.”
PAST SUITS
The EEOC has filed a handful of religious-discrimination lawsuits in Arkansas over the past several years.
In 2005, a Fayetteville auto finance company compensated an employee $55,000, but didn’t admit violating his religious rights in a consent decree. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Jonesboro were awarded $1.3 million in 2009 in a jury verdict against AT&T Southwest and SBC Communications after the company refused to let them take a day off for an annual religious convention.
In 2008, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Springdale UPS driver should be given his job back with compensatory damages after he was fired for failing to complete his deliveries because his Seventh-day Adventist beliefs barred him from working after sundown on Friday.
Generally, though, Arkansas hasn’t seen a “major” increase in religious discrimination in employment, Cash said.
Discrimination against pagans has lessened over the years, said Selena Fox, the executive director of the Lady Liberty League, a group that advocates for pagan rights.
“After nearly 40 years, I have seen a lot more public understanding toward pagans,” said Fox, a Wiccan senior minister and high priestess who lives in Wisconsin.
Still, obstacles remain, she said, citing a recent successful legal fight to force the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to allow pagan symbols on veterans’ headstones.
That highly-publicized case helped change attitudes, but many people still view pagans as devil worshippers or witches, Fox said.
“Pagans in a way are like the canary in the coal mine,” Fox said, adding that how society treats out-of-the-mainstream religious groups reflects “the health of our Constitution.”
Lowery said he’s convinced “a jury of our peers” will agree with his company’s position. No trial date has been set.
“It’s kind of tough when a small business has to defend itself against the government,” Lowery said. “Honestly, I’m at a loss. We’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/17/2011