Were Women Fired for Praying at Work?

By Cheryl Thomas

CBN News

December 20, 2006

CBN News.com - DALLAS - Two former University of Texas-Arlington employees say they were fired after praying over another staff member's cubicle and anointing it with olive oil.

The two women, Evelyne Shatkin, an administrative assistant, and Linda Shifflett, a development funds assistant, had joined in quiet prayer with a male coworker after employees had left for the weekend.

The male coworker was having problems with another employee and had agreed to prayer.

Later, both women received a termination notice from the university. The male coworker remained employed.

Shatkin says the dismissal caught both she and Shifflett by surprise.

They then filed a federal lawsuit citing religious discrimination. And since both women are over 40 years of age and the male coworker under 40, they included age and gender discrimination in the lawsuit.

In subsequent hearings by the Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Shatkin said she and Shifflett were both accused and rebuked, but never given a chance to present their side of the story.

And, she added, the charges against them were never clearly spelled out.

The termination letter sent to Shatkin from UTA referred to "conduct unbecoming an Arlington staff member, harassment of a fellow co-worker, and blatant disregard for the property of the university."

When CBN News asked Shatkin what the phrase "unbecoming conduct" referred to, she said that was never specified.

The termination letter listed "examples of unacceptable conduct," but it never stated which examples might pertain to her and her coworkers' dismissals.

As to the charge "harassment of a coworker," Shatkin says the coworker was on vacation when they prayed. Shatkin asks, " If she was on vacation, how could we be harassing her?"

The last charge referred to "blatant disregard for the property of the university."

Shatkin explained that the only university property she touched was the metal frame of the coworker's cubicle, which she anointed with a tiny amount of oil.

Oddly, the male coworker who filed the original complaint had also been the one who'd joined in the women's prayers. His account of the incident said that some oil had been spilled on the coworker's desk. However, no evidence was found to support that claim.

Liberty Legal Institute states that UTA officials later admitted, under oath, that no property had been damaged.

The women's attorney, Hiram Sasser of Liberty Legal, says that the university "should be ashamed for punishing these two women for simply praying after work on their own time."

CBN News spoke with the university's Director of Public Affairs, Robert Wright.

Wright issued this statement: "The university respects all our employees' rights, and we do not discriminate on the basis of religion."

While Wright said he could not discuss details of the case, he added, "We do not fire employees for just praying."

In another statement, the University of Texas at Arlington calls the women's accusations "a gross distortion of the truth" and says their dismissals were upheld by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

But the women say that their First Amendment rights were violated. Shatkin said they were never given any warning before their termination, nor any counseling to correct - let alone explain - their "unbecoming behavior."

Shatkin said, "People of faith should not have to live in fear that praying outside of work hours in a non-threatening way…will get them fired."

Sources: Associated Press, Liberty Legal Institute

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