Bah, Humbug! This will be interesting to follow:
Two Oklahoma City employees have sued the city over a memo from City Manager Jim Couch that the pair describes as "Anti-Christmas".
City Manager Jim Couch's Nov. 15 memo said such religious holiday items shouldn't be displayed in government offices in order to "maintain neutrality” and avoid promoting one religion over another. It cited interpretations of the U.S. Constitution that could expose the city to legal liabilities if holiday items "based solely on religious themes” are used to decorate government buildings.
Employees Christopher Spencer and Kenneth Buck took the memo to mean they couldn't display the Christian decor that for years had adorned their private city offices. The two filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing Couch and other city employees of violating their constitutional rights.
However, Couch sent another memo to department and division heads Tuesday that sought to clarify his original memo. Tuesday's memo said the original memo only pertained to holiday decorations in public spaces at city office buildings — not decorations in employees' personal workspaces. The fuss is about whether to allow city employees to display nativity scenes, crosses, angels, cherubs and other religious items in their offices.
Couch’s memo says such religious holiday items shouldn’t be displayed in government offices in order to “maintain neutrality” and avoid promoting one religion over another.
Employees Christopher Spencer and Kenneth Buck disagree. They filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing Couch and other city employees of violating their First Amendment rights by asking that religious-themed decor not be displayed in their offices.
The employees also claim that once Couch's first memo went out, city officials forced the removal of a Bible from the breakroom and the cancellation of an annual breakroom Christmas party that included an opening prayer.
E-mails introduced as evidence
Included in the lawsuit are e-mail exchanges between Spencer and his supervisor, general services director Paula Falkenstein, that show different interpretations of Couch's initial memo.
It began when Spencer sent an e-mail to Falkenstein asking if the initial memo meant he had to remove a religious item from his filing cabinet.
I believe the memo is pretty self-explanatory,” Falkenstein replied, adding that Spencer should contact the city's ethics hot line if he had further concerns.
The practical reality is the way this policy is being applied, these employees think they have to remove their Christian Christmas symbols out of their workplace area,” said attorney Brent Olsson, who represents the employees. "The city may think that is an unreasonable interpretation, but we've got the e-mails to prove that is what has taken place here with this policy.”
Update 12/20/07: The Tulsa World reports that the religious symbols of Christmas and the Bible are back in offices and breakroom. However, the lawsuit is still on:
"We want the court to determine that what happened to our clients was a constitutional violation," said Brent Olsson, an Oklahoma City attorney representing the employees. The employees are being aided by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group that advocates for religious freedom.
