Catholic World News News Feature

Worker wins religious discrimination case April 08, 2004

Albert Buonanno of Denver, fired from his job with AT&T for refusing to compromise his religiously-based belief that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong, has won his religious discrimination suit against the telecommunications giant.

A federal court has awarded $146,269 for lost salary, loss of 401(k) matching contributions and compensation for emotional distress. The company had required Buonanno to sign a statement that he "respected and valued" different "sexual orientations" in the workplace and he was fired when he refused.

The judge found that although there was no direct religious discrimination against Buonanno, AT&T failed to show it could not have accommodated Buonanno's beliefs "without undue hardship" to the company. AT&T issued an employee handbook that said "each person at AT&T Broadband is charged with the responsibility to fully recognize, respect, and value the differences among all of us," including sexual orientation.

The US Civil Rights act requires that an employer respect the religious rights of employees unless it can prove that to do so would cause "undue hardship." Buonanno agreed to sign a document pledging that he would not "harass" anyone regarding their homosexuality, but this was not good enough for the company.

Buonanno was represented by the Rutherford Institute, a civil rights organization that lists the causes it upholds including, "free speech, religious freedom, church rights, sanctity of life, parents' rights, death penalty, and sexual harassment." Buonanno's attorney said of the case that it may embolden other Christians to come forward who have suffered from the same kind of discrimination. "I think Buonanno is just the tip of the iceberg," Whitehead said