Blind Prophecy

From today’s Tribune

Fired teacher loses bias suit
She says she lost her job because she is not LDS
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune

A jury Monday night unanimously rejected a former teacher’s claim that she lost her job at Sevier School District because she is a woman and a non-Mormon.

The jury of eight women and four men reached its decision after a six-day trial and about 9 1/2 hours of deliberation. Erin Jensen and her attorneys declined comment after the verdict.

Kirk Gibbs, an attorney for the school district and its officials, said the verdict was appropriate. He said testimony showed that Superintendent Brent Thorne “is a good man. His history, his actions and behavior toward different religions is what really carried the day.”

Jurors declined to comment.

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I’ve actually been following this case since I first read about it in City Weekly. So far, I’m impressed that no one has called it a “Witch Trial” yet… but I guess that might inadvertantly get a little too close to the heart of the matter.

I’m pissed off about the verdict in this case. I’m pissed off because bigots got away with breaking the laws regarding equal opportunity. This is a particular form of bigotry all too familiar to those of us not part of Utah’s dominant culture. It’s bigotry where the guilty do and say all the “right things,” smile and claim that they don’t discriminate against anyone, but consiously or unconsicously, they do.

There’s a good-old-boys kind of thing that goes on with the Mormon kids. Need a job, chat with the bishop. Trying to find a place to live, Elder’s Quorum President runs an apartment complex. It’s all very innocent on the surface, people of faith helping one another. But the reality is that is inadvertantly excludes non-Mormons from access to these services. Then, it turns ugly. Without deliberately breaking the law, they make a workplace very, very uncomfortable for others. Whether it’s exclusion from social activities or outright hostility, it can be hell to work in an all- or mostly Mormon environment.

One of my uncles bought his son a plantation in the Phillipines. My cousin had served his mission in that area. They’ve hired the local bishop to manage the plantation and hire local farmhands. Great motivator to join the church, right? Better wages, better work, all you have to do is put up with a few missionary lessons and give up a few hours on Sunday. Although my uncles can’t get away with the same level of blatant religious bias in the U.S., I can say that there are very few non-Mormons who have been promoted into the highest corporate ranks of their businesses. In fact, most of the high-level folks are long-time church friends, former missionary companions and the like.

I have a teacher friend who is also a pagan. She flat out refuses to let her religious beliefs become known even in the decidedly more liberal Salt Lake area. She tells me that admitting that she’s a pagan would have parents, other teachers, even administrators doing everything in their power to get rid of her.

But seriously, even in a case like Jensen’s where it can be shown that there was a definite bias among parents, other teachers, and even the occasional documented note…

Wait, let’s quote this directly from the City Weekly article. During a school board meeting at which parents expressed concerns regarding rehiring this teacher…

One parent, the member testified, “was concerned that some thoughts from the world would enter into the child’s classroom.” Others were upset at “giving kids the option of questioning what their beliefs might be.”

God forbid we have an education system that raises the vague specter on non-Mormonism in the world.

I’d be very interested to learn whether or not Jensen’s jury of peers included any non-Mormons. In rural south/central Utah… not likely.

Filed under: livejournal by Jere Keys