Our faith is a cult?

[jackl81]

I work at the Best buy at 2100 S in Salt Lake City.

C&D manager at the Best buy location at 2100 south in Salt Lake City Utah, informed me I was denied Sunday's off because my religion (LDS) is a cult. Shane Peterman the GM ignored my request because it's their decision. Open & Honest our hr support hotlight is still "investigating"

It's been months with no update. Best buy condones religious discrimination. Cameron has stated multiple times that the Mormon faith is a cult and he punishes employees who ask for Sunday off to attend services. Why is this allowed?

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Nemesis
edited names

[Pyreaux]

Write to the newspapers and news stations, make him infamous.

[bluebell]

5 minutes ago, jackl81 said:

I work at the Best buy at 2100 S in Salt Lake City.

Cameron Raburn the C&D manager at the Best buy location at 2100 south in Salt Lake City Utah, informed me I was denied Sunday's off because my religion (LDS) is a cult. Shane Peterman the GM ignored my request because it's Cameron's decision. Open & Honest our hr support hotlight is still "investigating"

It's been months with no update. Best buy condones religious discrimination. Cameron has stated multiple times that the Mormon faith is a cult and he punishes employees who ask for Sunday off to attend services. Why is this allowed?

 

 

Keep trying to get justice. Maybe this is a case for Gephardt?  He loves doing investigations. 

[jackl81]

On 10/1/2023 at 7:20 PM, Pyreaux said:

Write to the newspapers and news stations, make him infamous.

It's not just him, our hr department does nothing about it and our GM told us to drop it. Only option is to quit, RcWilly seems fine with Sunday/Monday off and didn't even ask me my religion. Loads of coworkers are lds so I just don't understand. This is a massive company, how is this allowed? C. called out on our radios to avoid/watch the missionaries that came in on Sunday in our mobile department. 

[jackl81]

33 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Keep trying to get justice. Maybe this is a case for Gephardt?  He loves doing investigations. 

How do I do that?

[Rain]

I'm not sure Gephart is where you can get help.  Ĺast I knew he investigated things like financial scams and other financial things.  The is more religious observation accommodation. I would think the first thing to do since you've already talked to the gm would be file a formal complaint with the company. 

[Pyreaux]

Document all dates and times, and specific details. A Journal or a properly detailed chronicle will be a very important piece of evidence. If you file the complaint, and chronicle not just a response but any retaliation. If he's a truly petty person, let him dig a deeper hole.

[The Nehor]

Utah is a one-party consent state for recording laws. Definitely not saying you should record him saying this to you. But also not saying you shouldn’t.

[Pyreaux]

Yes, make recordings of verbal abuse, even if you can't use it. Save any voicemails, emails, memos, notes or other physical documentation of abusive behavior.

The thing you really need, is Write it down, no matter what else there is. It will likely be sufficient if its abundant and accurate information. Its more than your word against theirs, it becomes your evidence he now has to counter. It will be bad if you don't have these answers to questions someone will ask. It's not sufficient to just verbally recall it later.

You want to show multiple entries to establish an on-going, consistent pattern of behavior over a period of time. Write down what the abuser said, the date, and how it made you feel (how you feel can't be proven, so, make sure its factual). A good coup de grace is to also note the names of any and all witnesses (willing or not, but not the witnesses of hearsay who weren't there).

[Calm]

Assuming in this post that the opening post is an accurate portrayal, which may not be true after all and it could be an overreaction or even outright defamation….

Make sure you say something in any conversation you record so it is clear you are not eavesdropping, which is illegal to record in Utah, though if there is actual abuse of someone else that may not be an issue. 

https://recordinglaw.com/united-states-recording-laws/one-party-consent-states/utah-recording-laws/

You might even want to talk to a lawyer to get their advice on how to safely and effectively document the problem if you are considering more than just attempting to mildly pressure them.  I assume there are some that do free consultations with the idea that you will use them if you sue or there may be a free clinic in your area.

You need to be realistic about what you can achieve by doing any of this, what the potential cost may be to you as well as the benefit.  Don’t know your age or circumstances, but getting fired and a bad reference saying you refused to work your assigned hours might be hard to explain or you might not even have a chance to explain, so be patient and gather evidence so you can at least have that as backup if you have to look for a new job or explain to a new supervisor you are not a troublemaker. 
 

edited some as I am leaning towards this needs to not be addressed by total strangers

Edited October 2, 2023 by Calm

[blackstrap]

Hey, where does the" turn the other cheek " stuff come in ? Of course there is always that " If thy right eye offend thee " stuff to fall back on . 🤤

[rpn]

Best Buy is a national store.  They must have a corporate identity and a way for employees to report things that need to be changed.   By all means try that first (both for the documentation and because you'll need to prove their response which they will deny if/when you sue. 

IME, the easiest way to get Sabbath off, is to identify someone else whose Sabbath is a different day and trade shifts.   (Remember that if many or all of the SLC store's employees are members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the store is somewhat protected from having to give all of them off on Sunday all the time.)   Another thing is to not ask for the day off, but to ask for extended lunch hours or working a different shift.  

When you have tried different things, documented it in writing, and just received "we don't think it is a real faith" (which btw  suggests he erroneously thinks he gets to determine whether/what faith is for an employee), and kicked it up the regional chain of command, then and only then, you can seek legal counsel to review whether you have enough to sue, and they don't have a good reason to escape the general requirement.

At that point you may just have to find another job and/or learn to love and care for those who despitefully use you or persecute you.

I do think it would be interesting to see in SLC whether the Church is itself flexible so that you can attend a ward at a different time --- which the UTAH region has been pretty rigid about itself.

[Calm]

On 10/1/2023 at 7:53 PM, jackl81 said:

C.called out on our radios to avoid/watch the missionaries that came in on Sunday in our mobile department. 

Why were they there on Sunday?

[Calm]

1 hour ago, rpn said:

you can attend a ward at a different time --- which the UTAH region has been pretty rigid about itself.

I can see why to avoid ward hopping, but to accommodate a work schedule?  That happens?

Edited October 2, 2023 by Calm

[The Nehor]

26 minutes ago, Calm said:

Why were they there on Sunday?

To steal phones?

[Pyreaux]

26 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

To steal phones?

Or "avoid" may suggest denying them service or fear of their cult* recruitment tactics. (* to borrow his vernacular)

[Calm]

1 minute ago, Pyreaux said:

Or "avoid" may suggest denying them service or fear of their cult* recruitment tactics. (* to borrow his vernacular)

Whatever, I want to know why missionaries would have been in the store on Sunday and if this was a one off occasion or a “rule” the boss instituted. 

[Calm]

As a side note, this is an anonymous account (as it should be if the case is as described) and it might be false accusations against these individuals.  No one should assume this is truth just based on this complaint.  

jack, for your own well-being and others’ this thread may get deleted or the mods may remove the names as these are not public figures.

[Chum]

6 minutes ago, Calm said:

Whatever, I want to know why missionaries would have been in the store on Sunday and if this was a one off occasion or a “rule” the boss instituted. 

Seconded. The manager specified Sunday as the day he wanted employees to avoid/watch the missionaries that came in.  Why avoid/watch missionaries on only one day and why that one?

[The Nehor]

5 minutes ago, Chum said:

Seconded. The manager specified Sunday as the day he wanted employees to avoid/watch the missionaries that came in.  Why avoid/watch missionaries on only one day and why that one?

Because right after the weekly human sacrifice during Sacrifice/Sacrament Meeting their unholy powers of persuasion are at their peak. One could be mesmerized by their satanic charisma so soon after they ate the flesh and drank the blood of a dead but living God.

[Calm]

11 minutes ago, Chum said:

Seconded. The manager specified Sunday as the day he wanted employees to avoid/watch the missionaries that came in.  Why avoid/watch missionaries on only one day and why that one?

I would be watching any missionaries who came into a business on Sunday when they didn’t have to.

[Tacenda]

I remember being fired at the University of Utah Credit Union back when I was 19 or so, (a long long time ago) and they said I didn't cross sell enough to customers. I was a very experienced teller at one time, started at Zions when I was 16 and worked there again after being fired, was even hired by a customer that thought I was good at what I do, but the job was in California and I missed my family and came home. The only thing I can think of was my supervisor hated LDS people. I remember the abuse she put a return missionary through, he was fired before me. But I didn't think I had any recourse. Just always hated when an employment application asked if I'd ever been fired after that, first time it's happened. 

You could try contacting the news station or Get Gephardt. Or do as Calm suggested, file a report. Sorry for what you're going through.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Tacenda

[Chum]

22 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Because right after the weekly human sacrifice during Sacrifice/Sacrament Meeting their unholy powers of persuasion are at their peak. One could be mesmerized by their satanic charisma so soon after they ate the flesh and drank the blood of a dead but living God.

Man. Even the Best Buy guys know more about my faith than me.

[Tacenda]

I'd venture to say this has happens to many LDS people, and would be classified as religious discrimination in my book. 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Tacenda

[Chum]

15 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I'd venture to say this has happened to many LDS people, and would be classified as religious discrimination in my book. 

I haven't run across that kind of hostility in any larger institution. I have seen it in small church settings (against LDS) and small biz settings (against all kinds of groups). The former seems on the decline and the latter usually reflects the politics of the day.

However I also don't live in a dense LDS area.   I think strong mono cultures can create pressures that release in different ways.  I think a dominant culture can cause majority bullies to feel they have cover and cause minority bullies to feel persecuted and lash out.  This isn't any kind of criticism of the Church; it's just how I see psychology play out in general.