Auto parts store charged with religious harassment. A Sikh employee of AutoZone has sued his employer, asserting he was harassed for wearing a turban. The suit, announced by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, said employee Frank Mahoney-Burroughs was treated like any other employee at the store in Everett, Mass., until he converted to Sikhism and started wearing a turban. “Then, AutoZone managers called him a terrorist, told him that he was offending customers and terminated him,” said Sandeep Kaur, a staff attorney for the Sikh Coalition. When customers made terrorist jokes or called Mahoney-Burroughs “Bin Laden,” none of his coworkers stepped up and intervened, the EEOC claims. He also allegedly was told not to wear a turban or the kara, a religious bracelet—articles of faith for Sikhs. The EEOC is seeking stronger antidiscrimination policies and training at AutoZone and monetary relief for Mahoney-Burroughs.
Zacchaeus’ tree beckons tourists. A huge sycamore tree in Jericho that some believe was climbed by Zacchaeus the tax collector to get a better view of Jesus is the centerpiece of a new tourism campaign by the Palestinian government. Once the winter home of the wealthy elite thanks to its balmy winter weather, Jericho has seen hard times in recent years, especially since the start of the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s. But the current Palestinian administration is working to reestablish Jericho as a tourism destination, and it is placing the Zacchaeus tree at the core of the town’s 10,000 birthday celebrations, part of a yearlong series of events. Although no one can say for certain whether the gnarled old tree is the same one cited in the New Testament, experts who have examined it say it may very well date back to the time of Jesus.
Judge rejects suit against religious language. A federal judge has dismissed a suit arguing that engravings of “In God We Trust” and the Pledge of Allegiance at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center are unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge William Conley of Madison, Wisc., dismissed the suit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation due to lack of standing. He said the Wisconsin-based organization did not make a sufficient link between their taxpayer status and the money spent on the engravings that included the national motto and the words “under God” in the pledge.
Court lets pierced teen return to school. Ariana Iacono, a high school freshman in Clayton, N.C., was allowed to return to class after missing more than four weeks of school for wearing a small nose stud that violated the school dress code. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of Iacono, claiming the school was violating her right to religious freedom as a member of the Church of Body Modification, which believes rituals such as tattoos and piercings are essential to spirituality and connect followers to the divine. The emergency court order will allow Iacono to attend school while the lawsuit continues on the constitutional questions raised by her case.
—Compiled from Religion News Service
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