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WILLIAM R. LEVESQUEThe man, who is Catholic, was fired from UPARC after refusing to attend Baptist services to monitor group home residents, his lawyer says.
CLEARWATER - A former employee of the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens is suing the group, saying he was fired in retaliation for refusing to attend a religious service outside his faith.
The lawsuit filed by Peter Rangel last week in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court says that Rangel, a lead trainer for the group, was refused an accommodation and was fired two months later.
Rangel's attorney, Craig Berman, said in an interview that his client's manager ordered him on July 26, 2003, to transport UPARC clients to a Baptist church service and to attend the service with them to monitor their behavior.
He said Rangel is a Catholic and asked that another employee replace him. Rangel's manager reprimanded him, Berman said, after Rangel refused to go.
"He didn't want to comply with the manager's policy, which was illegal," Berman said. "I think it's okay for the residents to go to church if that's what they want to do. It gets illegal when they refuse to accommodate an employee because of his religion."
UPARC officials did not return calls Thursday seeking comment.
After the refusal, Berman said Rangel was transferred from the group home where he worked to another one and said his opportunity for overtime pay was cut.
About the time he was terminated, Rangel was offered a job changing adult diapers, a task that Rangel refused because it had previously made him sick, Berman said. On Sept. 30, the lawyer said, Rangel was fired.
"It's not like they were trying to convert him," Berman said. "But they tried to make attending the church service part of his job. And they can't do that."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in excess of $15,000.
UPARC is a nonprofit program based in Clearwater that has received much of its funding through state and county grants.