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Woman fired for saying 'blessed day'?

A bank teller claims she was fired from U.S. Bank for telling a customer to "have a blessed day."
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/07/06/pkg-bank-teller-fired-for-saying-have-a-blessed-day.wxix.html

Fuckin' proselytizers, they're everywhere...

Can bank just fire anyone they don't like?

Well, proselytize to customers is more than enough reason to get fired...

Well depends on the employment contract that was signed,but this days it should not be legal to fire someone just because you don't like his face,or him as a person.....maybe they should put in the contract that the employ is not allowed to have an unprofessional talk or to use words like"bless"....

I'm not sure I like your perfect world all that much; "I didn't like your joke... you're fired" doesn't seem to me to do much for job security. :P

As for this particular case, yeah, she probably pushed the limits a bit too far; she had previously been warned not to do it, and there are probably laws against that type of thing in the work place, particularly when dealing with costumers. She is the "public face" of the bank after all.

They were likely just looking for an excuse to fire her.  I've seen a lot of good employees say questionable things, but they get away with it because they do good work.  If a terrible employee says something questionable, they get booted immediately, they just needed something concrete to boot them out the door.

Interesting how much language and how it is used is coming into play lately.  I'd have to give it some thought as to how this will be ruled on, and it would be a guess anyway.   I will say this; whenever some clerk says "Have a blessed day" to me, it irritates me.  While understanding the benign intent, I don't need a stranger's "blessing" on my day.

Maybe we should ask our Christians if they would appreciate "Go with Allah" from the convenience store clerk.

The thing is, "Have a blessed day" could be neo-pagan as easily as Christian. I have no objection at all to such a greeting - or to the Muslim one, for that matter. My philosophy is that if someone says "I'm gonna pray for you", even if they mean it in a mean spirited and judgmental way, the proper response is always "Thank you". Here's the thing with this story, though - she doesn't own or run the bank. She's an employee there. And if they have rules prohibiting employees from expressing religions greetings to customers, then she should respect that. If she was warned several times, and continued to do it, I have no problem with the bank manager firing her.

Now who would have figured that you'd be irritated because someone said "have a blessed day"? I guess its safe to say you've never counted your blessings because that would mean thanking God.

I'm going to guess that her statement won't be viewed as religious and that demanding she not say it is a violation of her free speech. I would much rather have someone like her waiting on me than someone with a sour puss because she's never counted her blessings.

I think it would be safe to say you've never had a rational thought in your entire life.Yes and lets not say "God Bless You" when some sneezes either.
Wouldn't want to offend anybody.  ;D

I wonder if the Christian bashing Muslim kiss ass liberals would be outraged if the convenience store clerk (nice stereotyping) got fired for saying "Go with Allah"? I think we all know the liberal double standard answer to that.

BTW, I'm no theologian but how is saying have a blessed day pertain only to Christians? I mean that sounds pretty generic to me.


For instance here is some of the definitions for blessed in the dictionary.
protect somebody or something: to watch over somebody or something protectively.
wish somebody or something well: to declare approval and support for somebody or something.
:  to confer prosperity or happiness upon.
to speak well of.
used in the phrase bless you to wish good health especially to one who has just sneezed .

I'd feel exactly the same way - if the store had a policy against religious greetings to customers, and the employee refused to follow it, I'd take no issue with their being fired after several warnings. How would YOU feel, Freebird, if you were greeted every day  by a Muslim behind the counter who said to you Salaam Aleichem?

Well lets take a rational and logical look at your statement nurse. It irritates you when someone says have a blessed day, therefore its logical to conclude "blessings" are religious and knowing how you hate religion you wouldn't not want those blessings. Or would it be logical to assume that you get irritated when someone tells you to have a blessed day but you gladly count your blessings even if it is religious?

That would be national news complete with protesters and fatwas. We have become hypersensitive to perceived slights. US Bank can hire or fire whomever they want regardless of race or religion etc.

I don't get what liberalism has to do with this...

But if a muslin was proselytizing to customers the business would get so much complaints he would get fired in the same day, that's for sure.

And tell me nobody is buying she was fired for just saying "have a blessed day."

I completely agree with . Why would I take offense when someone wishes me a good day no matter how it is framed. The problem seems to be she didn't stop with just that in spite of all the warnings from her boss. She got fired and I believe the courts will say it was justified. Its never a good idea to refuse to do what a cop or your boss tells you to do.

I admit, I feel like openly cringing when someone says "god bless you" but to actually fire someone over saying "Have a blessed day" is a bit much, it's like Fox News getting wound up about people not saying Christmas, get the fuck over it, it's not the end of the world.

The moment we start banning people or dictating employment or arresting them based on something they say is the moment we are living in an irrational and paranoid dictatorship.

She wasn't fired for her religious beliefs, she was fired for purposefully ignoring orders.  I would've fired her too; if I ask you to do X and you do Y, you have made yourself useless to me, ergo unfit for employment.  Then she lies about why she was fired, claims it was because she was religious, pulls out the discrimination card, and expects to be paid for not working there anymore like the business is her ex-husband.

In other news, feminists are outraged that businesses aren't hiring enough women. :-*

Fuck I must have been tired when I read this


Yeah, that doesn't sit well, she clearly was being evangelical about it, that's a bit like if I sat at a bank and kept on recommending customers use Bitcoin, in fact it would probably worse because it would be helping their competition :D

Well, whether or not she thought it was for her own profit/salvation/morality/whatever, she had been repeatedly warned not to do it, and apparently kept doing it. And this is obviously not just about the "have a blessed day", so she likely had more control over it than that. :P

Apparently you didn't watch the video, she was proselytizing to customers and, certainly, also to coworkers, she had to go...

People think they can get way with anything if they claim it's their religious beliefs, well, they cannot!

If it is a companies public stance not to promote any religion or foster religious believes/religions it may be seen as a valid stance to restrict the use of religious expressions. This is a working place after all and the person in question is employed there (well not anymore in this case, but yeah...)

That's pretty extreme having a blessed day is pretty nice to hear
Wouldn't even say blessing people is entirely religious bunch of zealot atheists lol.

Edit should watch the video first sec hmm seems to be fine watched the video its in the range of religious freedom, but can see the court go both ways on this, she was asked a few times not to but if someone else initiates it I see no reason to not reply to it.


Summed it up for me as well

But Altoids in another thread added a nice bonus

One bank thats like no religious views the other is like Support the Gays or we will fire you and yes were allowed to use an internal survey.

If she's smart she'll tell them she's gay, and then she'll not only get her job back, but a bonus and a parade to go along with it.

Nope, still irritates me. I don't know if you  experience what non-believers/agnostics, people other than Christian experience what some of us do down here, but I can tell you that in Texas I'm surrounded by bible-beating evangelicals, from the state house to the legislature, to the grocery store.  And this "Have a blessed day" is their latest thing, a new catchphrase more or less.  It's everywhere. 

It's like the new Walgreens campaign.  A few months ago I was mildly pleased when the clerk closed the sale with "Thank you, and be well."   I thought what a nice thing to say.   And then they all started saying it.  Buy a pack of gum, you get a ty and be well.  Pick up your pills...pharmacy tech says ty, and be well.    Now, do you really think any of these people give a rip if I stay well...really?   No, the guys in the board room thought "Hey, let's try this.  Call your managers and put it in the training manual."

It will be nazi society soon. You won't be able to speak your mind and share your thoughts. They will be only one way of thinking for everyone. And I can see clearly that it is already started. Big brother is watching you.

You can't be that stupid to fire someone on two words, it could be a mistake, so fuck it, it happens. Thats just USA again.

First, I would have to agree that free speech seems to end at corporate doorsteps, and I concede that with no excitement. I think sometimes the freedoms we have won are marginalized by our corporate lives, where we often live 2/3 of our days. So, in that regard, yes, the company has the right to demand an employee stop this use of greeting or goodbye.

On a personal basis I see this as "more information than I needed to know". By that I mean, if when our transaction was completed you said "And do you like my nice wig" i would also think more than I needed to know. In either case you are presenting me with something personal in a transaction where that degree of personal is inappropriate.

It is not about religion, it is about invading my privacy. Once you have made this statement I feel compelled to nod, smile, or verbally respond. And my verbal response might be rude because you crossed a privacy line.

I do not want your blessing, or your pictures of kids, or to approve of oyur wig or anything other than to complete my transaction.

The merest whiff of religous sentiment expressed publicly seems to be considered as obnoxious and polluting as second hand smoke, campaign to confine any tainted language to private settings (except for church, temple, mosque, etc.) headed in same direction. 
Though not religious, I have many times exclaimed "Bless you!" at a kindness or a favor.  Getting annoyed at a "Have a blessed day" is so far removed from my sensibilities it really is genuinely difficult to identify with the mindset that is put off.  Hey, I'll take all the blessings I can get from whomever is inclined to send them my way.

 Once you have made this statement I feel compelled to nod, smile, or verbally respond. Quelle horreur! Doesn't the same apply to the pro forma "Have a nice day"?

I can get annoyance at rote, insincere good wishes though consider it one of most trivial of irritants of daily life.  Canned corporate treacle.  But don't, as stated, identify with becoming irritated at "Have a blessed day" (or variations of the same from whichever stripe of religionist). 
Hypersensitivity to speech deemed religious seems to have reached ridiculous proportions to me, and growing to the point where I believe 1st amendment rights are compromised for the practicing religionist.  What sort of climate is it when a deeply held aspect of one's beliefs, that of wishing one's neighbor blessings (which, as DD observed isn't confined to Christianity) can't be uttered without fear of reprisal? 

Geez.  How is this any different than saying "Have a nice day"?  Or does that piss you grumps off too?
Yes the bank has the right to fire her, and the public has a right to not use the bank as a result if they disagree with the policy.  Isn'tt that a great thing?

Zolace you think the response would be the same if everyone at the bank says "as-salaam alaikum"? Or would the response here be that the teller should be fired?

I would respond with a "you too" myself, Sana.  "Peace be with you" doesn't offend me.  Why would it?

The woman who was fired in the OP story had been warned by her employer, not just once, but several times.  Why would she risk her job for something so trivial, unless it wasn't trivial to her and she was pushing an agenda?

Maybe because she thought it was a stupid policy and was willing to be fired rather than have such a lovely and harmless bit of speech be squashed.  Her choice.  And the bank's choice to fire her.  And the public's choice to fire the bank.

Wouldn't offend me at all. And you say it wouldn't offend you. But can you honestly say that people here, some conservatives here, would not have a problem with it?

Usually when people say that people should be allowed to express religious sentiments, they mean their religious sentiment and not others.

I can assure you that if this thread was about someone saying "as-salaam alaikum" at a bank, the conservatives here would be asking for that teller to be fired.

Maybe because she thought it was a stupid policy and was willing to be fired rather than have such a lovely and harmless bit of speech be squashed.  Her choice.  And the bank's choice to fire her.  And the public's choice to fire the bank.

"Have a nice day" is just as rote and just as insincere.  Notice it has gone out of style?  There's a reason for that...it irritates people.

I assure you they would not. (As long as those words didn't accompany a bomb blast or a shooting. LOL.) People say things just to be nice sometimes. Just dammit be nice back. It will not kill you.

You know, this is interesting. 

Though consensus is employer was justified in the firing, not so certain I agree with the bank's case.  "Blessed" is a pretty ubiquitous adjective.  DD pointed out that neo-pagans use the term, and I've used "Bless you,".  I know I've also said, when reflecting on, um, blessings, things like "We're blessed to live in this time and this place".  Even used that southern staple "Bless your heart!" I don't like the idea that a generic expression of good will can be justifiable cause for termination. 

"Blessed" is, I suspect, a regional term in general conversation, residing mostly in our Southern states. You virtually never here the term in the North in general conversation.

And if it is part of your linguistic dialogue you might not be a  good judge of how others receive the word...just saying.

It is ok...if you have not lived in both the North and the South you would not know the difference in the use of the word.

But ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, you can learn by reading posts and listening to others...if you just cut off the part of your tongue that you use for biting remarks.Even used that southern staple "Bless your heart!"

Glad i could help you here.

"Bless your heart" is a derogatory phrase insulting someone's intelligence, people from the south know this.  That's why I respond in kind with "That's nice" which means "f*** you" in southerneze.   

That is not the original meaning of "Bless your heart" and I still know a lot of southerners who use it and mean as a nice comment. People have just gotten so damned sensitive. But yes, it has evolved into another meaning when said in a certain tone. But you go ahead and insult well meaning people if you wish. 

Now we're going to pick a nit as to who is southern and who isn't?  Texas was a member of the Confederacy, which was about as "South" as it got.   Down here, you know when someone says "bless your heart" if they're really blessing, or saying a saccharin FU.   More often than not, it's the latter.  

While I have visited but not lived in the south, it may surprise non native Californians to know a fair number of transplanted southerners reside here, some of whom are friends.  So, while not unaware of the usage of "bless your heart" as honeyed barb know it's also used affectionately, not necessarily religiously.  

There you go again. You are saying that it is a southern saying and I know someone on this board who says it a lot and she is not a southerner. DO you want to challenge me on that since YOU brought up people that say that on this board?  As I said. The meaning is all in the tone.
Question: Why can't you carry on a conversation without attempting to insult people? Did you learn that from your parents?

That is the answer to this so-called dilemma , I will begin using Aloha for every occasion.  ;-)

Seriously,  a quick look at my good old Merriam -Webster shows multiple definitions for the word Blessed.  The religious definition means "holy" or "beatified", while the non-religious definition means simple "Delightful".  Which is generally the way I interpret someone who wishes me a "Blessed Day'  Simply wishing me a delightful day.  And even if the person who says to me "Have a Blessed Day" is meaning have a Holy Day, as long as he or she is not saying who or what makes the day "holy".  And as such the expression remains generic and neutral with regard to specific religious tradition or belief..  Now if someone actually says "May the Good Lord bless you and keep" -- Or something like "Christ (or Allah) be with you, it does cross a certain religious boundary.  Although even then I would be not be offended or even the least bit annoyed.  

Having said all of that, I really do not have enough information  to determine if I can justify the firing or not.  If the employees history included  any degree of proselytizing, that is one thing.  On the other hand if it was obviously a greeting that was simply used in a generic manner, associated with a regional speech pattern, I  would object to the firing on a personal level.  Although the employer may be on solid legal ground based on how the manner in which specific instructions wee given tot he employee.

In any event, let me end by simply saying to everyone  "Avere un giorno meraviglioso".

Yep that sounds about right going with the way US Bank handled this and why Chase Bank asked the gay question in an internal company survey lol.