Wiccan Says She Was Fired for Religion

Good Luck, Gina.

Please keep us posted on the outcome of this story.

Patti, maybe it is time that we all started an email campaign letting Bath and Body Works know that we are not happy with their actions.

If we don’t start standing up for ourselves who will?

MJ

way to go. stand up for your beliefs.

i am willing! lets set a day up a day and time. we can go to the stores in our areas, and stand out front telling people that bb&b discriminates against religion! who cares where she takes her vacation? the place shouldnt matter. i thankfullylive in a wooded area, and i have my celebration in the woods. so what if she wants to travel to salem for their celebration? lets stand for our rights! the american religious freedom act of 1978 gaurntees our right to practice!

I always think it’s a good idea to let stores know if you’re dissatisfied with something they’ve done. Whether it’s poor customer service, or bad corporate policies, telling them why you’re irritated with them can make a difference, especially if lots of OTHER people tell them the same thing. I used this page here: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=store&subdisplay=contact&isStoremanDriven=yes&stillHaveQuestion=yes to tell B&BW what I think of this case

patti

Thanx for the link, Patti. I have emailed a couple other people involved in these kinds of things and had yet to get a round toit in sending off thoughts to this one. I also wanted to make sure I read who the store was properly. I have some vision issues and read the store as Bath and Body Works and then saw bb&b (bed bath and beyond) in beatrice’s comment so wanted to make sure my rant was properly directed I hate wasting a good rant.

Yep, the complaint is indeed against Bath and Body Works, and *not* Bed Bath and Beyond.

I should point out that Bath and Body Works is part of the Limited Brands company — their other holdings include Henri Beidel, Victoria’s Secret, C.O. Bigelow, and the White Barn Candle Company.

Also, for anyone who’s interested, you can read the full complaint here: http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/10/23/Wiccan.pdf

patti

I just got my thanx for your concern but we can’t comment form letter! I feel so speckled! At least they know that people are noticing and taking exception to what that manager did. It’s almost not even a religious discrimination case. I mean seriously, how unprofessional, rude, ignorant, and just plain stupid does a person have to be to say those things to someone? They need to get Kerby back to his former posting or even promote him as over manager! For someone in management he seems like he was almost human.

I just sent the company an email. Thanks for that link, by the way.

i can not believe this stuff still goes on. i feel sad because i really thought this kind of treatment was behind us. i am burning a candle and saying intentions for the good of all to be the outcome.

While discrimination sucks and this person’s manager should never have responded in that kind of manner – particularly as the work holiday had been approved by the previous regional supervisor – we don’t know what other circumstances led to Gina Uberti being let go from her job.

If it was because of her faith, the company should rightly be taken to court and she should recieve compensation…if she was fired because of the economy or fired because her work was not of the standard expected of her or because of a number of different reasons, the company isn’t acting against equal opportunities.

I do not want to cast doubt upon Ms Uberti’s character at all, but being Pagan and/or Wiccan does not automatically mean the person is perfect. Some people really are not cut out to work in retail, regardless of their faith. Let us keep open minds. We don’t know why Ms Uberti was fired, we do know her manager spoke to her in a derogatory manner. Let’s focus on that situation first, because having an abusive manager and losing your job don’t always go hand in hand.

I also emailed Bath & Body Works and received the same well rehearsed declaration of policy, which I didn’t expect anything more. At least B&BW is receiving feedback from us. Its been discussed in other forums that lack of evidence may get this case thrown out and I disagree. As am employer myself, I know what steps are needed to remove a longer term employee. Gina had a history of taking the same week off every year and every year it was approved. Only when her regional manager was replaced did this suddenly become an issue. True, her work history may have played a factor and we will hear about it later, but I am very interested to see this play out.

How can we know for certain what transpired in a verbal diaolog? While of course a “devil-worshipper” comment is grossly inappropriate, the investigation should focus on whether the termination was justified or not. Sometimes people (even pagans) with an axe to grind will manufacture or twist facts.

I’m always a bit cautious when people claim they were fired for religious discrimination, because often it turns out they were really fired for something else. However, if you read the complaint itself (linkage in comment #7), Uberti’s camp has made a point of bringing up her exemplary work record. Unless something very drastic happened to her work performance, it looks like she may well be able to back up her claims.

patti

I to have sent an e-mail….I hope we get their attention.

I also wrote to Bath and Body Works. Below is my comment. I am amazed that religious discrimination is alive and well in corporate America. YUCK!

I am writing today because I am upset about the circumstances involving Ms. Gina Uberti’s termination. I understand she was terminated was due to her religious beliefs, and that absolutely appalls me. If anything Ms. Sandra Scibelli should be terminated, or reprimanded for her behavior and words. I expect a formal apology be delivered to Ms. Uberti and that she receives compensation for her lost wages and punitive damages. You lost a loyal employee in Ms. Uberti. I enjoy your store and products; however, my mindset will change if this in not handled as it should.

I left Bath and Body works a e mail also. I also told them I would no longer be a consumer until the company made this right. This kind of attitude just frustrates me to no end.

I too was fired when fanatic Christians took over the company where I had worked for 20 years! But the fools had to hire me back–’cause I was the only one that knew how the laboratory worked…

Patti,

I know that as much as I use Bath and Body Works product I will not patronize this store until we hear the outcome. This just isn’t right. Gina hang in there we are with you girl!

I can not for the life of me, understand why people are so full of hate. To think Ms. Sandra Scibelli was promoted to be her supervisor. Is there not some process to weed out these kind of people?
i wrote and am waiting for the response, and will certainly pass this along, and encourage others to write as well.
We in Maine are waiting on vote for gay equality and marriage today, so discrimination are on our minds, I will add Gina to my energy/meditation list, and the company too.
Peace, blessings, and sunshine!!!

I am the only one left of three (out of the closet) pagan/wiccans that work where I do. The others were not fired for religious discrimination. They were fired for something else that was thrown together. While I am sure that some do clain religious discrimination when it is their work record or something else they were fired over, I also am sure that MANY are fired for other things when it is their alternate views on religion that was the root of the firing. I have seen this with the two that I worked with. They were good people who did their jobs. In my state you need no reason to fire someone. We are an “AT Will” employment state.
I am still working, but realize my mistake in sending co-workers invitations to my handfasting. I have overheard me being talked about in the dreded “They” terms. (”They do this and they do that”) I thank the ones who say they will pray for me, I do need my job.
I hope justice is done. Blessed Be.

How very sad. I just can’t get over how small minded and pig-headed people are. We aren’t hurting anyone with our beliefs, why hurt us for being peaceful people? It hurts my heart.

i buy gifts for 4 people twice a year at bath and body works. i emailed them and let them know ill be going to bed bath and beyond now.

I will no longer buy anything from bath and body works. Good luck with the suit.

one email sent to bath and body works from me. Good luck.

I too will be boycotting BB&W until further notice. What the company did was not right. I usually shop at BB&W for my family’s Yule (my mother is also pagan) and Xmas gifts because of convenience and great prices. I can find other places to shop this year.

I don’t know how anyone can say she was fired for her work performance when there seems to be a direct quote to the effect that the boss would be damned if she had a Satan worshipper working in her place???I was accused of this by a co-worker just for joking around about the devil — I had just returned form almost a decade living in Europe where such joking is commonplace.
The religious nuts are even afraid Halloween candy now! there was some article to effect that it was possessed — and that kid’s costumes are too evil — it just seems unlikely Ms. Uberti as sacked for legitimate reasons.
I also know what its like to have your management change form a tolerant to an intolerant idiot.
Cheers!
Arlene

Iam so appalled by the actions of Bath and Body Works to do that to a valued employee. I just put on their mosturizer and went omg, I feel like a traitor! LOL! I hope the best for this woman, that stinks that this day and age people are still so closed minded. Blessed Be To All!!!

Thanks for the link … I just finished sending my comment. Religious discrimination seems to be everywhere these days! I hope her case goes will.

Wow… I think that supervisor should be either demoted or canned. I just don’t understand that mind set here in this day and age. Karma, karma, karma.

Oh and I wonder whatever happened to the Ol’ Christian adage “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you”?

I already sent Bath & Body my piece of mind, how dare they. I am sick and tired of such ignorance in this day and age. I am sick and tired of being considered a Devil worshipper, when they are the ones who created the damn thing, they’re the ones that believe in that crap, we don’t. It is time to stand up for our Religious belief and to show the World the might and Power of the Mother Goddess and her Horned Consort.

I am shocked! I have been a faithful customer for many years ( hello cherry blossom) but I think I
ll find somewhere else to shop.

I am sorry to say, after over ten years in retail management, that Bath and Body Works are not alone in religious intolerance. Try Claire’s Boutiques, Charming Shops(Lane Bryant,etc.), and all other holdings of Limited Corp. I have seen and felt this time and again. My only out on a few occasions was that one of my parents had been born on October 31st. This gave me a good excuse to have the day off. Good luck to this lady it would be good to see that intolerance is not accepted by the court.

We’ve been staging our own campaign about this, for the past month, here on MySpace and on Facebook. I got the exact same letter you did. I had emailed my opinion, after BB&W’s customer service rep hung the phone up on me, as soon as she heard my use the “w” word in reference to myself. I will no longer patronize B&BW for ANYTHING.

Well, after the litigation is completed, and I hope she wins her case, I do hope Bath and Bodyworks fires the moron who made such a stupid comment and took those illegal actions. She deserves to be unemployed for her stupidity. That won’t be tolerated in this country I sincerely hope.

beatrice, standing outside a store and telling people that he chain discriminates against people is wrong. The chain has a very obvious policy against this kind of thing and we shouldn’t punish the store (or those who work there) by blaming the store for one bad manager.

Emailing a polite, but firm, letter about how this offends you as a client should get he point across. If nothing is done about the situation and it happens more, or even escalates then yes, boycotting and protesting outside the store would become a bit more appropriate.

What we should do is let the chain know that this particular manager was in the wrong, and then pray that proper justice is served.

Rebekah, I’m with you. Despite the alleged negative actions of one employee, the company has made it clear that they do not support discrimination of any kind. It’s now up to the courts to decide whether or not they’ve been following this policy in the treatment of their employees.

Making a blanket statement that the company discriminates is wrong, because up until this incident, Ms. Uberti was *not* discriminated against.

One or two emails may not seem like much, but when that number becomes two to three hundred, or a thousand, the corporate bigwigs will take notice, and they’ll recognize that the public — at least the Pagan public — is aware of what’s happening. I’m clearly not a lawyer, but my bet would be that this gets settled before the court passes down a judgment.

patti

I emailed them last week about this because someone on my twitter told me about it. I got the same letter, they’re not allowed to talk about it that’s the law. I don’t think it will get settled out of court but either way I hope she gets millions – she deserves it after that kind of discrimination. She has courage & stood up 4 her beliefs. I say she’s a great Wiccan and we should all celebrate that!

“I hope she gets millions”? I’m having a hard time seeing the ideas of balance and return there.

Yes, the discrimination was wrong. Yes, she should not have been fired (if there are truly no negative issues in her employment history with the company). Yes, she should receive *FAIR* compensation for lost wages, expenses and perhaps even a small amount for suffering.

But no, she should not win the Litigation Lottery. She wasn’t maimed or disfigured or crippled or rendered incapable of finding employment elsewhere.

This is nearly as bad as being fired becuase of political beliefs. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t done in some places that are head up by the extreme Christian right. I feel that the regional manager was unprofessional and inappropriate in making that “devil worshipper” comment and that she should not be allowed in a position of any authority. I will be using the link to express my disapproval to B&B Works.
Blessings & Light
Nightraven

It’s sad that we have to have fear of losing our financial stability because of misinformed people. Luckily, my boss is Indian and his religion is Hinduism, which we all know is very similiar and even uses some of the same Gods and Goddesses. But I’ve been called “Devil Worshipper” so many times that I laugh now. We are just in a world filled with misinformed people with big mouths. But if you try to explain and properly inform them, they don’t want to hear you out. So why can they run their mouths and not us? Sorry, I just get so angry to hear this kind of crap from what I thought were respectable companies.

I too sent an email saying that they had lost me and my family/friends business until this was corrected. I too got the same response as everyone else. Its ridiculous to have to hide these things in todays so called emlightened age and its a shame that I have to do it myself so I will gladly stand by her side!

If this woman was truly fired for her ‘religious’ beliefs, then let’s see this pans out for the Christians. Anyone requesting holiday time around December 21st and so forth, for CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, should be canned also!

Let’s see if the supervisor ‘will be damned’ to let someone who believes in a prophet who lived 2000 years ago, have their religious reverence!

WWJD knowing that Ms.Scibelli isn’t acting like a Christian team player?

I’ll comment from a personal opinion on the matter, I’m an employee of Victoria’s Secret, ( in no way take what I say as God for the company, I do not speak for them). This sounds more like a problem with that specific manager rather then something the company itself is at fault for, I’ve always been supported in my beliefs and needing time off for Samhain and Yule and so forth, from my direct manager and her managers. While they can’t comment I would suspect it would be an internal investigation about the regional manager that made the comment. And no, I don’t know those involved, nor will I ask

One of my best friends worked for this company & had the very same problem. She couldn’t get religious holidays off & her manager told her the same thing. After she was “outed” newer employess with much less experience (& in one instance none) got promoted over her & got better hours. If it was a one-time thing I’d say it sounds like just the manager, however, when I heard this story it really got me thinking. I’m going to refer her to this story & hopefully something will be done for her too!

I see this happien alot in utah.I had a boss that found out I was not mormon,but wiccan and she disliked me after that.She hated that I did not value sunday as the day of rest and to only go to chruch.She also hated my daughter because she was half black and me for being a single mother but those ore seperate issues.(I ‘m sure were conected to her religius up bringing)As time went on she tryed to find ways of fireing me that looked legal.eventaly she won and I was fired.But I just Got a Job At Sears and the store manger knowsI’m a wiccan and hired me any way.So Shop there.and to this lady there are bad people out there and hopefully the company sees that she was wrong and not you.our gay borhers and sister have a saying that we can change a little and say to we are wiccan and we’re here to stay! I hoppe it all turns out ok for her.Blessed Be… High Priestess Char of Stae Coven of Wicca/Wiccan Paranormal Assocation/Norton-McGowan Clan

Please be sure that if you do send anything or perform any protests, you are protesting the right company. This issue is with Bath & Body Works, NOT BB&B (Bed, Bath & Beyond) as Beatrice (Comment 4) mentioned bb&b.

I’m wondering what has happened to the ammendment in the constitution freedom of religion? Or is it just for other religions and not the pagan/wiccan religions. If the world were more tolerant of each other’s differences it might be a much happier place and ensure a better future for generations to come. I hope she wins this case if it is indeed being fired b/c of religous differences.

I also emailed B&BW. I let them know that I will be boycotting their stores and products in protest. Also I informed them that they need to get educated regarding our beliefs and we are covered under freedom of religion as Wicca is a recognized religion.

I was fired for being a witch, and I had my entire life displayed in court for 6 years, I had no write ups not formal warnings, and for only the fact that when questioned by the judge my supervisor(former) told him that I was not reprimanded any more or less than any other employee there and no others were fired. Work records have a mysterious way of getting changed, and things that never happened were suddenly in the response to my complaint.

I did open a case, would I do it again? No. I t was 6 years of pure terror, I developed panic attacks that prevented me from working else where because I could not tell about my case to a new employer, and it was still in court so try to explain time off…. at a new job … for court hearings.

6 years, I ended up going bankrupt for lack of work and the settlement, all went to the bankruptcy court, all 7500. not even a years wages.

The lawyers made more than I did cause that 7500. paid them all. Never would I do it again, never will I share at work my path again.

I lived in the US for 7 years and was out to all my friends, family and co-workers. NEVER once did I suffer any discrimination. When I moved back to my home country last year, I had to go solitary and keep quiet as I would be ostracized. And it happened. I worked as a counselor for a small company and I was very smart about keeping my faith quiet – no pagan-themed clothing, books, jewelry…I didn’t even talk about it. But one day as I was discussing the next newsletter, my boss asked me my “religion” and before I could answer, she said “A witch?” I couldn’t deny it and I held myself with exceptional grace as she patted her chest and fanned herself over the “challenge” of having me work there and how could my mother allow it and Goddess knows. Suddenly, her behavior changed and I was asked to turn over account access to others “In case you aren’t around”, denied business cards and wasn’t met with a smile anymore. So I quit. I couldn’t report her as she was the business owner and our organization that looks into these matters would not care about me and would try to sensationalize my situation. So I kept quiet and left…and opened my own office. Yes, discrimination against us is alive and well.