The Present and the Future of Religion

Please respond to the following:

The lawsuit alleged that Sam, an employee at Logan’s location in High Post, CA, was not accommodated for his religious beliefs. Sam, a Jehovah’s Witness and a skilled machine tool operator worked Logan’s for over 20 years. As a Jehovah Witness, his religious belief was that he did not work on any part of product that could be used as weapon of war. For many years, he refused to work on projects that involved orders from any of the Armed Services. Accordingly, these projects were reassigned to other machine operators. Logan’s’ supervisors were aware of his beliefs and provided him with reasonable accommodation over the years.

In 2002, Sam was asked to work on a part which was going to be used on a United States naval submarine. Just like he did in the past, Sam refused to work on it. However, this time he was cited for insubordination and then fired after he refused to accept an alternate assignment in the shipping department.

• What are some beliefs and practices of Jehovah Witness?

• Did the employer do the right thing? Why or Why not?

• If you are the manager, how would you handle this situation?