Indiana clerk fired for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses sues, claiming discrimination

[DonViejo]

Source: RawStory/Indiana Star

A former employee of an Indiana county clerk’s office is suing after being fired for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses because of her religious beliefs.

Linda Summers, former Harrison County clerk, filed her suit last week, accusing County Clerk Sally Whitis of wrongly firing her. Last October, Whitis sent an email to employees directing them to comply with state law and process the marriage applications regardless of religious beliefs, the Indianapolis Star reports.

Summers responded by hand-delivering a letter to Whitis, telling her that same-sex marriage is against her “sincerely-held” religious beliefs, requesting she not be required to do so. As a result, Summers was terminated for insubordination.

Summers, in turn, accused her former employer of unlawfully terminating her against county policy that forbids discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, military status, or any other classification under applicable law, according to the Star.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/indiana-clerk-fired-for-refusing-to-issue-same-sex-marriage-licenses-sues-claiming-discrimination/

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[matt819]

1. And so it begins

Are these people morons?

Don't answer that.

She was not fired because of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, military status. She was fired because she refused to do her job.

[DonViejo]

4. What's really hateful is the fact there is usually some organization...

e.g., church or legal organization, standing behind the person claiming to have been discriminated against. That church or legal organization basically tells the one claiming discrimination, "we're gonna stand behind you, support you, and we're gonna defeat these commie, pinko, fags and our God will be with us." They lose the case, leaving the one claiming discrimination left to wallow in their self pity....just like those bakers that refused to bake a wedding cake.

[tblue37]

27. Remember Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, the birther Army doctor who refused to deploy to Afghanistan because

believed Obama wasn't legally the CiC and therefore had no power to order troops to deploy. After he lost his court martial case, was stripped of his rank and military career (after 18 years of service), and was imprisoned for 5 months of a 6-month sentence, he was also denied a Kansas medical license.

His nonsense was encouraged and applauded by a US senator and his birther foundation, by such birther leaders as Orly Taitz, who essentially said it didn't matter if he lost, since he'd be a useful martyr for the cause, by his lawyer, and by 3 retired Army generals on the FOX payroll:

(SNIP)

Prior to Lakin officially violating his order to deploy, former Republican U.S. Senator Bob Smith, who founded the American Patriot Foundation, said: "...my personal belief is that when an officer has a constitutional question I don't have a problem with that being answered, that's his legal right to have that answered, but I'm not involved in it."[11] Three retired United States generals expressed support for Lakin. The first was retired Army Major General Paul E. Vallely, a senior military analyst for Fox News. In an interview, Vallely stated "I think many in the military – and many out of the military – question the natural-birth status of Barack Obama."[12] Following Vallely's announcement, retired Army Major General Jerry Curry[13] and retired Air Force Lieutenant General (and Fox News analyst) Thomas McInerney[14] also expressed public support for Lakin.

(SNIP)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court-martial_of_Terry_Lakin

The military dispatched another doctor to fill Lakin's slot, a doctor whose last-minute deployment caused real difficulty for his family.

Lakin wrote a book about his trial. I wonder whether it was bought in bunches by RW groups the way they do for their darlings like Ann Coulter.

[DonViejo]

28. I well remember Lakin's case...

I'm curious as to his current status. He was two years away from retirement and blew it for some screwballs and their screwball ideology. Typical martyr though, title of his book is, Officer's Oath: Why My Vow to Defend the Constitution Demanded that I Sacrifice My Career. I wonder if all those who supported him in his cause are now aiding him financially.

[tblue37]

29. He practices still (in a Colorado clinic). I imagine he also does the RW speech circuit.

I know he once spoke at a campaign rally for fellow birther fanatic Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

I was intrigued by his admission under oath at trial that he knew his orders to deploy were legal. Yet in his subsequent book he claims again that he considers them illegal. Obviously he says anything he thinks will do him some good. Under oath in a military court he didn't dare mouth such an obvious lie.

His failure to be licensed in Kansas didn't hurt his Colorado and Maryland license to practice, so he still can earn a living, though he did lose his generous Army pension along with his Army career.

[yuiyoshida]

9. This..

simple and clear cut. If your religion prevents you from doing your job, than leave it and go preach!

[Liberal Veteran]

13. Simply put, any lawyer worth their salt should pose the question to the judge....

"If she had been unwilling to issue a license to a mixed race couple (or previously divorced couple) and claimed her religious beliefs prevented it, would you even be entertaining this frivolous case?"

[jberryhill]

2. These are the people who get exercised over "Sharia Law"

They believe the public administration of the law is subject to their own personal religious whims, but they recoil at the idea that someone with religious beliefs other than their own would do the same thing.

What the fuck is wrong with these people?

[Angry Dragon]

3. when religion trumps everything else we are starting the slide to hell

I think these people should have to prove that they have no sins before they can use the religion trump card

[Ahpook]

5. Suing for discrimination?

How ironic!

I hope they kick her case and her sorry ass out of court.

[Sunlei]

6. perhaps her church will hire her for a wedding planner

[christx30]

7. No, ma'am. What happened to you isn't discrimination.

That's what you were doing. What happened to you was called dereliction of duty. Firing you was the right move. If you want to keep your job, follow the law. You can excersize your religious beliefs on your own time. I don't want to hope someone is able to serve me when I deal with the government, and not blocked by their personal religious beliefs. "Sorry. My religion doesn't allow me to renew your ID. And I'm not allowed to get you to someone that can help. Identification is a sin. Tra la la la."

[LakeVermilion]

8. Summers didn't have to marry them, she only had to hand out forms and document them.

Processing paperwork has nothing to do with the actual marriage itself. Christian victims.

[LittleGirl]

12. +1 n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

10. Wait. So it is okay for her to discriminate, but not her employer?

Is that really the argument she wants to take to court?

[Sherman A1]

25. Precisely

and that is the fundamental point that needs to be addressed if and when this goes to court.

[jtuck004]

11. Wouldn't it be malpractice for an attorney to take a case like this? She has no

legal standing to discriminate, and the law seems clearly against her.

They get the wrong judge it seems this could go in a way this clerk isn't expecting, perhaps. Maybe charges for a frivolous suit?

[christx30]

17. I'd like this case to go to trial,

have her lose badly, and have to pay court costs and attorneys fees.
If this discriminatory person wants to risk everything and go down this road, I want to see her reap what she sows.

[hack89]

21. No. Laws are challenged all the time. Nt

[TheProgressive]

14. The discrimination described is normally for 'employer hiring practices'...

Sorry, but religion has no basis in government and therefore in business law. You can be religious but *your* beliefs
do not apply in business...

[Hekate]

15. I'm glad to see a County Clerk enforcing both the law and personnel regulations. ...

This is exactly what I believed all along should happen to county employees who have been bleating that THEIR god won't permit them to help people they disagree with get married. They should do the job they were hired to do or find another job, one not paid for by taxpayers. If they really can't separate religious from secular law in their feeble little minds, they shoul apply for work with the religious institution of their choice -- but be prepared for a low salary and no benefits.

[LibDemAlways]

16. I know a devout Catholic who works in a pharmacy.

Her job requires that she dispense contraception. Her take on it is that it's a requirement of her job, and, if she wants to keep the job, she will continue to do everything her employer requires. If someone has a moral or religious objection to the work they are being paid to do and, therefore, won't do it, they need to move on. Summers wasn't fired for her religion. She was fired because she was picking and choosing what aspects of her job she was willing to perform.

[SoapBox]

18. Hit the road, Linda.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Apparently you forgot that this is America...not crazy religious Wackville.

[truthisfreedom]

19. It's so simple. The law changed. So she has to change,

Or move on.

[ThoughtCriminal]

20. Druid lumberjack refuses to cut down tree

files suit when fired.

[Dont call me Shirley]

22. "Sincerely-held bigot beliefs"

[LynneSin]

23. When the woman can show me where Jesus said 'Thou shall not allow gays to marry'

then she might have a case.

Outside of that she brought the on herself from listening to idiots tell her it's ok to hate because someone is different from her. She is no different from the white-americans back in the Jim Crow era who said that black people had to use special bathrooms or walk through special doors or sit in certain areas of a bus or bathroom.

[lib87]

24. She Should Be Happy

She's free to be a bigot all she wants now.


Enjoy unemployment!

[Thor_MN]

26. She quit when she refused to do her job.

IMO, when she asked to excused from doing her job, she quit. Like or not. when one serves up an ultimatum to your boss, and the boss says no, you either knuckle under or your job is gone.

[TNNurse]

30. Isn't that something?

The person who discriminates thinks she is a victim of discrimination.

[marble falls]

31. I have the same sort of problem: my boss wants to fire me because of my strongly held....

religious beliefs about punching in late and missing work.

[lindysalsagal]

32. Well hell! It's about time!

She is the discriminator! Reality prevails!