Case Study #1 – Religious Freedom at Work
Fred Rotelli’s situation is an example of the challenges relating to protection of religious freedom at a school or employment setting. In this scenario, Fred Rotelli was fired on the basis that he used religious expression for arrogance and insubordination. Despite the various attempts by the school district and the principal to warn him, Rotelli continued to express his religious beliefs in the school. The eventual solution to Rotelli’s situation was an out-of-court settlement in which he voluntary resigned as a music director but continued his work as a social studies teacher. In addition, the school board cleared him of all personnel record of indiscipline while he promised not to sue the district for violating his religious liberties. However, the case provides many discussion points relating to religious freedom at a school or an employment setting as discussed below.

Fairness of the Solution

According to Kearney & Coggburn (2016), the solution reached in this matter was deemed fair to all parties as stated by the school board chair. In this case, each of the parties made a compromise that enabled them to reach a relatively good solution to an extremely sensitive and difficult problem. Similar to many companies, the root cause of the problem was the lack of written policy on how the school would handle religion in school in a manner that protects the interests and views of all stakeholders. Given the lack of such a policy, most of the actions adopted by the school district and the school were reactive approaches that responded to Fred Rotelli’s actions. The school principal and the superintendent were reactive to Rotelli’s religious beliefs since they did not establish policies that would determine the extent with which teachers or students are allowed to express their beliefs in the school setting.

The solution reached in this matter was fair to all parties since it protects religious neutrality. In this regard, the ruling provided a clear balance of the interests of all parties involved without any discrimination. At first, the school district’s stands that relatively prohibited Rotelli from expressing his religious beliefs infringed on his rights and seemingly violated the First Amendment to the Constitution. On the other hand, Rotelli’s insistence on expressing his religious beliefs without consideration of the beliefs and interests of others infringed on their rights. Therefore, the most suitable solution to this situation would be a ruling that protects the religious beliefs of all parties. As shown in the case facts, the ruling protected the interests and religious beliefs of all parties involved.

Religious neutrality is an issue that continues to affect modern school and work settings, particularly in light of the First Amendment to the Constitution. According to Donovan (2004), equal treatment neutrality should be expanded to the nation’s school setting and curriculum. School districts need to establish non-discriminatory and fair policies that seek to protect religious neutrality of all parties. Despite the fair solution to the matter, the school district should have also used the opportunity to establish non-discriminatory policy on religious neutrality. However, the policy should be established in a manner that does infringe on people’s religious beliefs and expressions.

Avoidance of the Dispute

The emerging dispute from Rotelli’s actions could have been avoided through establishment of non-discriminatory religious neutrality policy. Similar to some companies and learning institutions, the school did not have written policy on religious neutrality or religious expressions. Many workplaces and learning institutions experience numerous challenges relating to religious discrimination due to the lack of written policies that address how to handle religion in the workplace (Gerdeman, 2018). This usually results in disputes that are similar to the situation involving...…to McKeheler, Dr. Tristani should seek to find out whether he has received such complaints and what measures he has undertaken so far. This would help Dr. Tristani understand the extent of Dr. Khalsa’s inappropriate behavior and actions taken by the human resource department to deal with the situation. The vice president of Medical affairs should also seek to understand existing policies on harassment, inappropriate behavior, and discrimination in the company’s workplace.

To Dr. Khalsa, Dr. Tristani should notify him of complaints against him regarding inappropriate behavior targeted toward Hispanic and female staff and patients. He should notify Dr. Khalsa that investigations on those complaints have commenced. Dr. Tristani should also request to meet Dr. Khalsa’s to get his side of the story regarding these allegations.

Documentation

Since the complaining employees have not provided any writing to support their claims, Finn may find it difficult to provide necessary documentation. However, Finn could write down a list comprising the different incidents of inappropriate behavior as reported by the various employees. Decker (2018) states that one of the critical measures toward proving harassment in the workplace is writing down specific instances of inappropriate behavior. While she may not have the details of each of these specific instances, she need to write down the complaints she received. In the appointment with Dr. Tristani, Finn should also bring the consent forms and charts thrown by Dr. Khalsa at Betty Cabeza de Baca. Such documentation would help her prove the complaints she received regarding Dr. Khalsa’s inappropriate behavior. In preparation for the meeting, I would not telephone anyone given the seriousness of the allegations and the fact that Dr. Khalsa is not happy with the situation. Finn should focus on preparing her case and the necessary documentation to support the claims instead of calling any other parties regarding this workplace harassment situation.