Firing Employee for Anti-Gay Harassment Was Not Religious Discrimination, Ninth Circuit Says
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer/Appellate Courts
 
An evangelical Christian who was fired from her job for harassing a gay employee was not discriminated against on the basis of religion, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.

Evelyn Bodett’s admitted statements to a female subordinate, the court held, supported Cox Communications’ assertion that it fired Bodett for violating its anti-harassment policy rather than because of her religious beliefs.

Bodett worked for Cox’s Phoenix operation, and for its predecessor, American Cable, for 18 years. Her treatment of subordinate Kelley Carson came under scrutiny after Carson accepted a transfer to the company’s Omaha affiliate.

Bodett’s superior, a company vice president who knew that Carson had previously complained to another employee about Bodett’s comments, asked Carson to lunch and inquired why she was leaving. Carson said it was because she was disturbed with how Bodett treated her sexuality.


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Group pushes anti-gay marriage amendment
By AMY MCCULLOUGH
Gannett News Service
COLUMBUS -- Gay-rights opponents want to amend the Ohio Constitution to ban same-sex marriages because they say a new state law prohibiting them might not be strong enough.

David R. Langdon, a Cincinnati attorney for the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage, said the group is preparing to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November.

Ohio is one of 13 states considering amending their constitutions to ban same-sex marriages. Four states have already amended their constitutions and five more are putting the ban on the ballot this November. Congress is considering a federal constitutional amendment.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft signed the Defense of Marriage Act on Feb. 6, defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman in the state of Ohio. The bill came in response to a court decision in Massachusetts that forced legal recognition of gay marriages.