POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – A Poplar Bluff woman refused to attend a work related party, and claims the fallout forced her to quit her library job. Now she’s filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Deborah Smith tells Heartland News she didn’t want to work at a library sponsored Harry Potter book party, because she feels the contents of the wizard series go against her personal religious beliefs.
Smith claims she was suspended for ten days without pay, and says her work duties changed when she returned to the library. Smith quit her job and started the legal battle for her rights. Story here.
Just Deserts
This librarian got just what she deserved. Librarians are there to do a job and not promote their own religious opinions. She made the choice to quite, and now she is whining about it.
huh?
I believe you meant: Did the Boy Wizard *Cost* This Library Worker Her Job?
Both sides are needed
But there’s definitely a difference between tolerating what is on the shelves and attending an after hours party. The occult angle is nonsense and she certainly can’t be expressing that opinion to the patrons. But skipping a specific event is quite reasonable.
Full Story Wanting
I have been curious about the full story here. If libraries support intellectual freedoms, they have to support the conservative ones as well as the liberal ones… as ignorant as the beliefs may be.
However, I can imagine this was a huge event where the library needed all hands on deck. It is not fair for the other library employees to have to work on a Friday night if she can get out of it just by saying she has religious objections to it. I think the question here is if she offered or was offered a reasonable accommodation and refused. I have not yet been able to find out the details, but I really want to get outraged about this story one way or the other!