View cases - Stewart McKelvey

may have been in Christmas packaging; however, it was displayed to be sold, not to bedecorative. Mr. Jones had previously agreed to handle seasonal merchandise, but for religiousreasons drew the line at decorating. He had made it clear to both Mr. Eisler and Mr. Hardy thathe would not decorate the store for Christmas and, prior to 1998, he had not done so. There is noevidence that he had put out poinsettias in previous years. In my opinion, Mr. Hardy and Mr.Eisler were aware that, in asking Mr. Jones to put out Christmas decorations, they were askinghim to do something that he believed was contrary to his faith. While not specifically prohibited,decorating for Christmas was contrary to Mr. Jones’ Bible-trained conscience, and, as such,contrary to his faith.[31] The Respondents submitted that the purpose of decorating a store is not to celebrateChristmas, it is to enhance marketing. I accept that Mr. Eisler’s purpose in decorating the storewas to market Christmas, not to celebrate it. However, Mr. Eisler’s intention is not relevant to adetermination of whether Mr. Jones was discriminated against. Mr. Jones considered decoratingthe store to be contrary to his faith (as did Mr. Hall), and his refusal to participate in decoratingwas consistent with the tenets of his religion.[32] In my opinion, Mr. Jones has established a prima facie case that C.H.E. and Mr. Eislerdiscriminated against him on the basis of his religion. It was not inappropriate for Mr. Hardy toask Mr. Jones to put out poinsettias; Mr. Hardy may not have known that Mr. Jones consideredthem to be decorative. However, when Mr. Jones refused for bona fide religious reasons, Mr.Eisler insisted that he comply with Mr. Hardy’s directions. There is no evidence that Mr. Eislercould not have accommodated Mr. Jones’ religious belief without undue hardship. Mr. Hardytestified that it took him about 10 seconds to put out the poinsettias. I find that the RespondentsC.H.E. and Mr. Eisler discriminated against Mr. Jones with respect to a term or condition ofemployment because of his religion. Mr. Hardy’s role in the discrimination was limited toasking Mr. Jones to put out the poinsettias. When Mr. Jones refused, Mr. Hardy put them outhimself and informed Mr. Eisler of the decision. It was Mr. Eisler who required Mr. Jones tocomply with Mr. Hardy’s directions. In these circumstances, I find that Mr. Hardy did notdiscriminate against Mr. Jones on the basis of his religion.8