Former bus driver has sued the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, charging that the nine-county transit service discriminated against him based on his religion when he was fired for refusing to drive a woman to a Planned Parenthood clinic in January.
Edwin Graning, who was hired as a driver on April 1, 2009, was “concerned that he might be transporting a client to undergo an abortion” when he was assigned to transport two women to Planned Parenthood, according to his lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Austin.
Graning is seeking re-instatement, back pay and undisclosed damages for pain, suffering and emotion distress. He is represented by lawyers from the American Center for Law & Justice, founded by evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson.
61 comments
Yeah, because no one ever goes to PP to get their annual physical or medications. Not to mention how I've heard their prenatal care is excellent and usually free of charge.
I hope the women sue for pain, suffering, and emotional distress right back and he finds a nice cactus to sit on. Feel sorry for the amount of money that is wasted to fight this idiot.
(When I lost my insurance, I found out how badly other clinics treated you when you ask to pay in cash... PP's midwives, nurses, and support staff were absolutely WONDERFUL and caring people - I cried at the care and tenderness they offered me in my time of need because they were going to save me from my PMDD instead of turning me away.)
<sigh> You know, I'm guessing that someone using a rural transit system CANNOT drive. That's the situation I am in and being stuck in a rural area and unable to drive is definitely one of the circles of hell. Stories like this make me so glad that I have enough friends that I do not have to rely on our local transport services.
Fail
Get the fuck off your religious high horse asshole. You had no right to discriminate against that woman with your bullshit, so they canned you for that, not because of your religion, but because you chose to practice it on others that you shouldn't have done.
Honestly you fuckers are so damned stupid it's almost sad
@djjj "These people are teenagers, this is the 21th century, they are more uniformed in their views and opinions than a Soviet Politburo
was but they think they’re oh so special because they have our own desktop and a favorite shampoo."
I find it funny that the only true thing in that sentence is "this is the 21th Actually, there's nothing true in that sentence since this is the 21st century.
Also, I think you completely missed the point of this site.
It later transpires that he had no idea whether the woman was visiting PP for an abortion or what: he claimed first that he rang PP to find out, then he claimed his wife rang PP to find out, and finally it emerged that no such calls were made, and all he did was assume that because the lady was visiting PP, it must be for an abortion. He is going to lose big style, the idiot.
Also, FSTDT is nothing but teenagers? Dunno about that ... I have a teenage grandson, if that's any help.
Nope, fired with just cause, refusal to perform job.
You give them rights like this they'll out-holiday the Jews in less than a year.
"Graning is seeking re-instatement, back pay and undisclosed damages for pain, suffering and emotion distress."
Yeah. Good luck with that.
"He is represented by lawyers from the American Center for Law & Justice, founded by evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson."
Have those jokers actually ever won anything? You hear about successful ACLU cases all the time but I don't think I've ever heard of the ACLJ doing much of anything other than being a mouthpiece for evangelicals on radio shows and such.
How about next time you just drive the goddamn bus like you're supposed to? That's what bus drivers get payed to do, last I checked. What next? "I didn't drive them to -insert location here- because I thought they were Democrats/Muslim/ugly..." Or anything, really.
Does that mean that atheists can refuse any service to an xian that might cause religious overtones? Say...not serve food? (xians say "grace" over food). If somebody has a heart attack in church, can the ambulance driver refuse to drive? And more importantly, should a doctor refuse to give medical attention to xians? Afterall, your babble says you should get church elders, lay on hands, and pray. No doctors needed. Hmmm?????
In most places that you get hired, there's this little thing called a contract and job duties are laid out on it. And I'm just spitballing here, but I'd assume that the "job duties" of a bus driver are to sit down, shut the fuck up and drive the bus. And seeing as how a customer gets on the bus to GO somewhere, it is none of your fucking business, outside of the actual driving there, where or why they are going where they are going. SO, no.. you do not get your job back, you have shown that you cannot perform the job duties as laid out on the contract that you most likely signed. If you cannot perform the duties as prescribed by the job, you don't get to keep the job. So fuck off and go find a nice church that you can drive for.
I'm sorry... was that a bit harsh? I'm in a bit of a mood this morning.
I have the same sympathy for this bus driver that I had for the pharmacist who went out of business because he wouldn't dispense prescriptions that went against his faith (like birth control pills).
None.
You were hired to do a job. It's not your job to judge why people want to go to a specific place, it's your job to drive them there and shut the fuck up.
Mind your own fucking business, driver. Just get on with your job. Otherwise, yes, you sould be sacked and lose all pay.
Actually, you haven't a leg to stand on in making a claim on the basis of discrimination. You are not entitled to tell others how to live their lives.
Typical fundie. It's fine if he's the one discriminating, even if it's his fucking job to transport anyone and everyone wherever the hell they want to go. Sorry, but if you don't like the idea of taking people places then you're in the wrong business.
Planned Parenthood helped me with my endometriosis problems when we couldn't find a gynecologist that accepted then insurance we were on at the time. I would probably still be doubled over in pain from ovarian cysts if it wasn't for them. I never went to have an abortion, just so that I could live my life normally without feeling like someone stabbed me in the lower abdomen all the time.
Pain, suffering and emotional distress for doing his job? I love how arrogant jerks filing lawsuits try to sound like they're the poor, persecuted victim.
If this guy didn't like taking women to Planned Parenthood, he should have requested a different route or STFU and drove the bus. And people have a right to privacy when it comes to medical issues. Apparently he never heard of HIPPA.
Could you imagine if for some reason this guy won his lawsuit? Then women would have to reveal the reason they're getting off at the stop near Planned Parenthood.
When will you freaks learn that DRIVING someone to a place like that does not in ANY way infringe on your beliefs.
If you do not agree with me..then should an atheist driver sue the company if he gets fired for refusing to take a person to a church? If I said I was "concerned I may be transporting a group of people to a known place were cult activity has happened"..how much money should I get when I sue them?
I think the judge should ask the plaintif exactly were in the Bible is specifically condemns giving a ride to someone wanting to go to planned parenthood. Just because the people are getting a ride to PP, DOES NOT mean they are going to have an abortion. Maybe they were going there to talk their sister out of having the abortion? Maybe they were going there to protest abortion on the sidewalk and pray for the abortion doctors...you havent the slightest..and this case will slam flat on its face.
..are we not seeing a recuring theme..that it is an afront and persecution to the evangelicals if other people live their lives any other way than evangelical. The evangelicals FORCE you, with no choice, to take their method of living life...and if you refuse or get upset, then YOU are persecuting THEM!
..and to top it off...they have started spreading the meme that Christianity isnt a religion, but a "personal relationship with christ". If the meme spreads far and wide, then Christianity will be introduced into government as it is not a religion, and therefore not subject to the wall of seperation (which they claim is a myth, but also claim that god isnt a myth).
If the ACLJ succeeds at this, I fully expect them to defend me when I decide to exercise my right not to serve religious clients due to their beliefs offending my beliefs.
(Was that sarcasm dripping enough? I don't know, surely it's enough that people wouldn't take that seriously.)
But if the driver had been a Muslim, refusing to drive someone a ride to a church, citing religious reasons, this guy would be foaming at the mouth, demanding he be fired and executed. Funny how the religious right to be exempt from duty only applies to them...
And when the judge slaps you with the fees for filing a nuisance suit, Edwin, you better hope you have enough savings to pay them.
Then brand the word "LOSER" on your forehead so you don't pull this shit again.
@Sisyphus: "No one thinks they'll find the girlfriend/boyfriend of their dreams on fstdt."
Sometimes it happens, though. ;)
For a few of us losers on the forums, anyway.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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