Office Depot Refuses to Print Anti-Abortion Flyer

Started by TomFoolery, September 13, 2015, 10:32:12 AM

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TomFoolery

QuoteOffice Depot in Schaumburg Accused of Religious Discrimination

A suburban Chicago woman has accused Office Depot of discriminating against her when employees at a store said they wouldn’t make copies of an anti-abortion prayer because it violated company policy.

Maria Goldstein attempted to print 500 copies of a “religious flyer” at a Schaumburg Office Depot but said employees refused to complete her order, according to a demand letter sent to Office Depot by the Thomas More Society.

The alleged incident happened on Aug. 20 and the item Goldstein tried to print included several statistics from Planned Parenthood’s 2013-14 annual report along with a prayer for “the conversion of Planned Parenthood,” according to the letter.

“Anyone can order printing at Office Depot,” Thomas Olp, Thomas More Society special counsel attorney, said in a statement. “But because Ms. Goldstein’s flyers had religious contentâ€"namely calling for prayer for Planned Parenthoodâ€"Office Depot refused to complete her order. This is a blatant violation of the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance, which forbids public businesses from discriminating based on religion.”

The demand letter says Office Depot must “cease its unlawful refusal to service Ms. Goldstein’s copying order.” Olp said if the company refuses, he will bring the issue before the Cook County Human Rights Commission or the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

“Office Depot is discriminating against me based on my religion,” Goldstein said in a statement. “If the store can pick and choose what orders it fills based on religious content, it is refusing to treat people of faith equally. In America where we value freedom of religion, this is simply unacceptable.”

Office Depot said in a statement to NBC Chicago Friday that the company has contacted a representative of Goldstein to explain that the decision was not based on religious beliefs, “but on the fact that it contained certain words and phrases that could be construed as graphic or advocates the persecution of groups of people, which is a violation of the company’s copy and print policy.”

“Upon a more detailed review, we have determined that the content of Ms. Goldstein’s flyer is not a clear violation of the company’s policy,” the company added. “We invite her to return to Office Depot if she still wishes to print the flyer.”

Here's the content of the prayer she wanted printed:
Quote
Prayer for the Conversion of Planned Parenthood

Lord, for whom all things are possible,
We are confronted once again today
With the evil of the abortion industry
And the corruption found
In the world's largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood.

Lord, we pray for all who plan to be parents,
And we ask your mercy on those
Who teach others to reject parenthood.

In the light of your Word, Lord,
We affirm today that children are a blessing from you,
And that the origin of all parenthood
Is likewise in You, the God of life and love.

Therefore, Oh God,
We stand against the evil that has been exposed
In Planned Parenthood
And in the entire abortion industry.

We stand today for the triumph
Of truth over falsehood,
Of light over darkness,
And of life over death.

Bring an end to the killing of children in the womb,
And bring an end to the sale of their body parts.
Bring conversion to all who do this,
And enlightenment to all who advocate it.

Close the doors of the death camps in our midst,
And open the doors of your mercy and healing!
Close the grisly trade in baby body parts,
And open the abundant gifts of your salvation and life!

Hasten the day when our land
Will no longer be stained with innocent blood,
And when the bodies of all your children
Will be raised from the dead
And set free forever.

We pray in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen!

--Rev. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

From other stories, it sounds like Office Depot originally refused to print it because the employee considered the language such that it was advocating violence against others. Personally, I don't see how the employee made the connection.

The curious part of this incident are all the conservatives demanding to know why all the liberal scum who demanded a bakery bake a cake for a gay wedding think this is ok. Personally, I don't agree with the content of the flyer, but I do agree that it isn't ok. If we're going to act like businesses have to accept clientele without discrimination, this would definitely go under the flag of "I don't agree with it, but I'll do my fucking job." Maybe if she had just photoshopped some aborted fetus images on it, Office Depot might have had a case.

Thoughts?
How can you be sure my refusal to agree with your claim a symptom of my ignorance and not yours?

Munch

While I do love seeing ignorance stamped out and keeping it in check, preventing it from having a voice, I do however, sadly, agree that in free speech, these crackpots are allowed to have their insane dribble published if they are paying for it.
Just hope there is counter publishing to go against it, flyers saying how they speak religious bullshit. Thats the best way to handle it, because you can know your enemy then.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Hakurei Reimu

Yeah, Office Depot is in the wrong here. Their prayer is impotent, but their money is as green as anyones'.

I would also want to know who the assholes are.
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Johan

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Don't really want to dredge this up again but you gotta do what you gotta do. Businesses have the right to refuse to service to anyone up to the point where such refusal is protected by law. The quoted article says an attorney for the Thomas More Society is claiming that the refusal of Office Depot to provide services to a customer based on the religious beliefs of the customer is a violation of the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance. And that attorney is a moron because there is NOTHING in the Cook Country Human Rights Ordinance that prevents a business from refusing to make photo copies based on the religious beliefs of the customer. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Office Depot for their part, did exactly what any company of their size should in the situation. Which is to officially deny that the claim is valid but to also admit that their staff was mistaken and that they'd be more than happy to print the job for the customer. But this is really a shame because Maria Goldstein doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and everyone involved knows it.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful

Shiranu

If not religious content, could OD not refuse to publish it for what it believes to be vulgar content? To me that is the path the employee should have gone done instead.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Termin

   I would have printed it myself, however since to my knowledge, the corruption in planned parenthood has not been proven, perhaps they could simply refuse to print based on the libelous nature of it's contents ?

Termin 1:1

Evolution is probably the slowest biological process on planet earth, the only one that comes close is the understanding of it by creationists.

dtq123

Money is money, how stupid can you get?
I'd be a pastor to get all the riches if I could fake it.
A dark cloud looms over.
Festive cheer does not help much.
What is this, "Justice?"

AllPurposeAtheist

I wonder if OD would print mine that says: Anti-abortion people could care less if your baby once born is dragged off and eaten by a cat.
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Hakurei Reimu

Quote from: Termin on September 13, 2015, 07:14:58 PM
   I would have printed it myself, however since to my knowledge, the corruption in planned parenthood has not been proven, perhaps they could simply refuse to print based on the libelous nature of it's contents ?
There's an idea.
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widdershins

This really doesn't run afoul any discrimination laws since they are discriminating, not on her religious beliefs, as is claimed, but the content of the flyer.  They aren't saying, "We won't make copies for you because you belong to THAT church!"  They're saying, "We won't copy THAT!".

That being said, it's kind of a sticky situation.  People do have the right to free speech, but they do not have the right to any given delivery method for that speech.  If my posts here are deleted or censored my rights have not been violated.  I can still legally go out into the streets and say whatever stupid shit got me in trouble here.  But the forum is not in any way obligated to proliferate that speech for me.

Going back to the baker, I think he should have SOME rights, but not the right to simply arbitrarily refuse service.  A wedding cake, he should be required to provide.  A wedding cake that says, "God bless this union of these two very gay men, a union which I, personally, agree with", well, maybe he's not exactly comfortable spelling out those words in frosting blessed by Jebus himself.  I guess what I'm saying is arbitrarily denying service, no, but refusal to propagate any particular speech with that service, fine.  If the baker refused to put a message on the cake, but would still make the cake without the message (so long as he didn't define "message" as nothing more than the names of two men), I could see that as being uncomfortable to him and be a little understanding.  So I'm saying, refuse service, no.  Refuse to propagate a message (an ACTUAL message, not claiming the service IS a message or that proper names constitute a "message"), I'm okay with that.  I can, however, EASILY see that being abused very quickly.
This sentence is a lie...

peacewithoutgod

Quote from: widdershins on September 16, 2015, 06:13:50 PM
This really doesn't run afoul any discrimination laws since they are discriminating, not on her religious beliefs, as is claimed, but the content of the flyer.  They aren't saying, "We won't make copies for you because you belong to THAT church!"  They're saying, "We won't copy THAT!".

That being said, it's kind of a sticky situation.  People do have the right to free speech, but they do not have the right to any given delivery method for that speech.  If my posts here are deleted or censored my rights have not been violated.  I can still legally go out into the streets and say whatever stupid shit got me in trouble here.  But the forum is not in any way obligated to proliferate that speech for me.

Going back to the baker, I think he should have SOME rights, but not the right to simply arbitrarily refuse service.  A wedding cake, he should be required to provide.  A wedding cake that says, "God bless this union of these two very gay men, a union which I, personally, agree with", well, maybe he's not exactly comfortable spelling out those words in frosting blessed by Jebus himself.  I guess what I'm saying is arbitrarily denying service, no, but refusal to propagate any particular speech with that service, fine.  If the baker refused to put a message on the cake, but would still make the cake without the message (so long as he didn't define "message" as nothing more than the names of two men), I could see that as being uncomfortable to him and be a little understanding.  So I'm saying, refuse service, no.  Refuse to propagate a message (an ACTUAL message, not claiming the service IS a message or that proper names constitute a "message"), I'm okay with that.  I can, however, EASILY see that being abused very quickly.
Well, isn't it just nice to see the assholes get their own shit tossed back at them!

I don't really think Office Depot should be looking at, much less evaluating the material which they are paid to copy, but when they do, it had better be for the mitigation of clear and present legal ramifications in connection with them printing it - which I somehow doubt. And if you cannot be sued or prosecuted for printing what the paid customer is responsible for, then you probably should be sued for refusing to print anything, even porn.
There are two types of ideas: fact and non-fact. Ideas which are not falsifiable are non-fact, therefore please don't insist your fantasies of supernatural beings are in any way factual.

Doctrine = not to be questioned = not to be proven = not fact. When you declare your doctrine fact, you lie.

Blackleaf

If a religiously based company can be forced to provide a service that offends their religious beliefs, then Office Depot should be forced to print whatever political message Christians want to print. To claim otherwise is hypocritical. It has to be one or the other; you can't just bend the rules to fit whatever is socially acceptable at the time.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

Johan

Quote from: Blackleaf on September 19, 2015, 01:52:40 AM
If a religiously based company can be forced to provide a service that offends their religious beliefs, then Office Depot should be forced to print whatever political message Christians want to print. To claim otherwise is hypocritical. It has to be one or the other; you can't just bend the rules to fit whatever is socially acceptable at the time.
Are you talking about Hobby Lobby? If so, its apples and oranges.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful

SGOS

When I think about it this morning, refusing service to anyone based on their religious beliefs or sexual orientation seems like the height of pettiness.  And the Supreme Court plus all the other lower courts, are spending millions of dollars sorting out this childish bickering like indulgent parents trying to teach incorrigible children some lessons about common sense social behavior.  Our government could be working on issues like food, shelter, and basic medical care, but instead it compounds the problem with a glut of politicians that have the reasoning skills of  Mike Huckabee, and instead of helping, they appear on television, stirring the pot and fomenting hatred toward one and other.

Sylar

If there's anything that is "sacred" in this world, it's free speech. So while anti-abortion fellas are nutjobs, they have a right not only to their opinion, but to be able to voice their opinion.
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." --Oscar Wilde