PURPOSE and GOALS

The purpose of this website is to bring together in one website much of the information scattered across the world wide web that relates to the unique issues which American employers encounter when employing Jehovah's Witnesses. Recently, while working on a somewhat related research project, it occurred to me that I had not stumbled across a single webpage, much less website, which was dedicated to the "Non-Jehovah's Witness Employer" - "Jehovah's Witness Employee" relationship.

Specifically, I would like to concentrate on gathering and posting "real world" scenarios, which are memorialized in official federal and state court documents, as well as news media reports. When an employer wants to educate themself as to the pitfalls lurking in the "real world", there is no substitute for actual lawsuits which describe actual scenarios which led employers to being sued by one of their Jehovah's Witness employees. Currently, this website summarizes or discusses over 500 Jehovah's Witnesses cases and incidents, including civil court cases, criminal court cases, threatened lawsuits, complaints filed with various government agencies, media reports, other miscellaneous memorializations of employment-related controversies, including over 140 "SECRET" historical background cases.

The goals and beneficiaries should be obvious. A better educated and more informed employer is less likely to violate the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness employee, thus, is less likely to end up embroiled in a nasty lawsuit which will drain the employer's time and money. The end result should be happy employees and happy employers, who each work together to make happy customers.

FEDERAL & STATE LAWS PROHIBIT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Religious discrimination occurs when an individual is treated differently at any point in the employment process because of their religion, religious beliefs, or religious practices; or lack thereof. An individual rejected for employment, or an employee who is fired, denied a promotion, denied a pay raise, denied a training opportunity, harassed or otherwise harmed in their employment because of their religion, religious beliefs, or religious practices may have suffered unlawful religious discrimination. Unlawful religious discrimination may also include an employer's denial of an employee's request for a change in a workplace rule or policy as an "accommodation" of the employee's religious beliefs and practices.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. The federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces Title VII, and provides oversight and coordination of all federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices, and policies. Covered are all private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions that employ 15 or more individuals. Also covered are private and public employment agencies and labor organizations.

Although federal law covers only employers with at least 15 employees, many states and even some cities and counties also have anti-discrimination laws that cover workplaces with fewer than 15 employees. Some of the state and local anti-discrimination laws may even be broader than federal law, or may even provide additional protections.

Employers not covered by federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws may also be subject to private civil lawsuits brought directly by an aggrieved individual on grounds such as "wrongful termination/discharge", etc.

WHY JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES REQUIRE SPECIAL ATTENTION

Probably more than any other religious group in the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses have a number of religious beliefs and practices which can lead to confrontations with their employers, with their co-workers, with customers, and with others with whom they interact on the job. That fact does not mean that the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee are any less inviolate than the civil rights of other employees. It simply means that employers will probably have to pay a little more attention to those employees who are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Despite their low numbers (one to four million in the United States - depending whether counting "active", "inactive", "unofficial", "former", etc.), Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the most geographically diverse religious groups in the United States. Consider that there are approximately 3000 counties in the United States, and approximately 12,600 Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States. While members of larger denominations are often concentrated in certain regions of the country and absent from others, Jehovah's Witnesses are everywhere - just in smaller quantities. Thus, nearly every American employer will likely interact with a Jehovah's Witness Employee sometime in their business career.

LITIGATION IS IN THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BLOODSTREAM.

The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, was often made fun of and mocked by newspapers and by clergymen around the world. Around 1907, on the urging of a recent convert named Judge Joseph F. Rutherford, Russell started filing civil lawsuits against his detractors, and even once filed criminal charges against one Canadian clergyman. Russell died on Halloween 1916, and Judge Rutherford succeeded Russell as President of the Watch Tower Society. By 1918, Judge Rutherford and the Directors & Officers of the Watch Tower Society were convicted of obstructing the war effort in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917, and served 9 months in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.

Starting in the latter 1920s, Judge Rutherford began training his Jehovah's Witnesses membership to fight in their local courts anyone and everyone who dared oppose the work of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Religious services at Kingdom Halls included "mock trials", with Elders playing the roles of Prosecutors and defense attorneys. JWs were trained what to say and how to behave when being arrested, while in jail, and at trial (which they assumed they would lose), so as to make their case the best possible for the appeals process which was to follow. Appellate cases were what the WatchTower Society was hoping for, and it was at the appellate level that the WatchTower Society would jump in and help with the case. By 1935, the number of cases across the United States were so many that Rutherford decided to form a separate Legal Department within the WatchTower Society.

Olin R. Moyle, a Jehovah's Witness Attorney from Wisconsin, was selected by Rutherford to head up the new Legal Department. Moyle did an excellent job. In 1938, Moyle won the LOVELL case before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). However, in 1939, Moyle, who had been a teetotalling Prohibitionist before he was a Jehovah's Witness, got into a personal spat with Judge Rutherford over Rutherford's heavy drinking and cursing. Moyle submitted his resignation, along with a letter denouncing Rutherford's unchristian personal habits. Judge Rutherford was furious, and had the WatchTower Society's Board of Directors formally fire Moyle. Rutherford thereafter slandered Moyle in the pages of one of the Watchtower's magazines, and Olin Moyle successfully sued the WatchTower Society, and was eventually awarded $15,000.00 -- a hefty sum during World War II. Interestingly, Olin Moyle had been handling the famous GOBITIS case, and Moyle had won at the trial court level, and Moyle had won at the Court of Appeals level. However, after Judge Rutherford fired and slandered Moyle, the MINERSVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT appealed the GOBITIS case to the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Rutherford himself argued the case before SCOTUS in 1940, and Rutherford lost the case by a vote of 8-1. It was this very event that triggered the nationwide wave of violence against JWs that lasted for the next several months. [CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE 140+ SECRET WATCHTOWER-RELATED CASES FROM THIS ERA.]

In late 1939, Judge Rutherford selected Hayden C. Covington to replace Olin Moyle as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal Department. Hayden Covington was a young "fireball" attorney from San Antonio, Texas, who had recently converted to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Covington's personal habits more closely mirrored those of Judge Rutherford than did Moyle's. Hayden Covington's father was known as the "Meanest Texas Ranger" of the 1920s-30s, who reportedly was disappointed that he had killed only 45 men. Covington's father is known to have assisted in at least one WatchTower court case -- against the City of San Antonio in 1940. Hayden Covington was married to a prominent San Antonio socialite, who moved with him to WatchTower headquarters. However, she did not stay long. She returned to San Antonio in late 1940, divorced Covington in 1941, and remarried in 1942.

Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, and thereafter Rutherford's aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Hayden Covington, who was elected Vice-President of the WatchTower Society after Rutherford's death. Hayden Covington has been hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. Only eventual SCOTUS Justice Thurgood Marshall won more cases before the SCOTUS. However, Covington did not get along with the new President, Nathan Homer Knorr. Covington first resigned as Vice-President of the WatchTower Society, and eventually resigned as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal Department. In 1963, Covington was even "disfellowshiped" from the Jehovah's Witness religion. He was "reinstated" a year or so before he died in 1978, and was given a JW funeral.

No other religion in America has spent more time in the state and federal court systems. Jehovah's Witnesses have won 48 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. That is probably more wins at the SCOTUS level than every other religious group in America put together. Considering that today's Watch Tower Society has an extremely active legal department, and considering that Jehovah's Witnesses are "favorite sons" of the ACLU, any employer who violates the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee will pay dearly for doing so.

SOME UNIQUE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BELIEFS & PRACTICES

BIRTHDAYS & HOLIDAYS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's belief that celebrating birthdays is a sin can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by a group of well meaning co-workers singing "Happy Birthday". Since Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that it is a sin to celebrate New Years, President's Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas, there are regular opportunities every few weeks for confrontations to occur where co-workers, customers, or others unwittingly do or say something which might offend your Jehovah's Witness Employee, or vice versa.

AMERICAN FLAG & LOYALTY OATHS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's beliefs that the American Flag is a "false idol", and that saluting the Flag or reciting the Pledge are acts of "worship", can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by co-workers distributing American Flag stickers, lapel pins, or other similar patriotic items around the Independence Day holiday, or especially during emotional times of patriotic fervor like post-9/11. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society also teaches Jehovah's Witnesses that all human governments, including the United States of America, are active partners with Satan in his rebellion against GOD. Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in any patriotic acts or activities, including signing or reciting "Loyalty Oaths". Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to vote. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in politics. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to serve in the military, or work for employer's who service or supply the military. Any of these topics discussed during breaktime or casually brought up while working can give opportunity for your Jehovah's Witness Employee to be offended, or for the Jehovah's Witness Employees' response to offend co-workers or customers.

CONFIDENTIALITY LIMITATIONS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's practice of reporting fellow Jehovah's Witnesses who have violated Watchtower rules can result in extremely serious legal consequences for an employer in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee who has job-related access to confidential medical, legal, business, or personal records discovers that a fellow Jehovah's Witness is hiding the fact that they have done something prohibited by the Watch Tower Society, and then the JW Employee discloses that confidential information to Watchtower leaders. Because this Jehovah's Witness practice may lead to employers being sued by the aggrieved Jehovah's Witness, this Watchtower practice has been addressed in newspaper articles, and articles in magazines such as the American Bar Association Journal, Business Insurance, and Medical Economics.

NO BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS!!! The Jehovah's Witness Employee's practice of refusing to permit medically necessary blood transfusions for not only themselves, but also their spouse and children, can result in the employer paying higher Workers Compensation or Life & Health insurance premiums, and maybe even having their policies nonrenewed, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee suffers blood loss in a work-related injury, or where the Employee's spouse or children suffer blood loss, and then what would normally be a survivable scenario turns into a fatality.

SHUNNING The Jehovah's Witness Employee's practice of "shunning" (treating as if dead) persons who have resigned from or who were disfellowshiped (excommunicated) from the WatchTower religion can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee must service a customer or cooperate with a co-worker who is a former Jehovah's Witness. There are a handful of anecdotal stories posted on discussion boards, etc. in which former JWs relate their being shunned by a JW Employee while shopping at supermarkets, "Mart" stores, etc. JW Employees have no legal right to shun customers or co-workers while performing their duties as an employee, and when reported doing so, practically every Employer will respond positively to complaints from customers or co-workers.

These and many other Jehovah's Witness beliefs and practices are discussed more thoroughly in this website. Click on upper left-hand Menu.

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WWW EMPLOYMENT ISSUES UNIQUE TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES