Michigan dentist Tina Marshall sued over Christian office music and prayer meetings
A Michigan dentist allegedly fired employees for changing the Christian music in her office and is now being sued by four former employees for discrimination.
The four former dental employees accuse Dr. Tina Marshall of Lake Orion, Michigan of either firing or reprimanding these former employees when they objected to the religious practices, which also included prayer meetings in the office.
Kimberly Hinson, Nancy Kordus, Tammy Kulis and Sara Bambard, according to the Washinton Post, filed the lawsuit in August 2015.
Kordus spoke with the Clarkson News,”We were all on edge. We were trying to be nice to the patients and do good dental work, but she kept forcing the music and her beliefs on us. Several patients questioned the music, and I turned it off and turned on the TV. So I was ‘disobedient.”
Marshall explains that the atmosphere was “soothing” and that patients made positive comments about the music.
“Playing the Christian music is just to keep God on your mind. It’s just soothing to the spirit,” the dentist countered when speaking with the Clarkston News.
“I can’t tell you how many patients I have come in and just make comments that it is so calm in here. They’re like, ‘I’m at a dentist office. This is weird.’ And we just smile.”
Some of Marshall’s employees were unhappy with being subjected to the music and now they seek damages for “past and future income and employment benefits, outrage, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anxiety, emotional distress, and loss of professional reputation.”
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“I told her I did not think it was right to play the music all the time, as we had a wide range of religious beliefs as patients,” Kordus said in a statement. “She told me ‘you have to plant the seeds’ and the music had to be played 24/7 even if no one was in the building ‘to keep the demons out.'”
The complaint againist Marshall also claims that she made employees pray during a morning prayer meeting. Her former employees says that the meetings started out as optional but soon became mandatory. Marshall denies the allegations and says no one was required to pray with her.
Marshall’s attorney, Keith Jablonski told The Washington Post that she is “being attacked in this lawsuit for her Christian beliefs, based solely on her desire to play religious music and radio stations in the dental office of the business that she owns.”
“We believe that when the facts, and not baseless allegations, are presented to a jury, we will establish that this group of former disgruntled employees are simply looking to profit off of their own prejudices towards Dr. Marshall and her Christian faith,” he added.
[…] Michigan dentist Tina Marshall sued over Christian office music and prayer meetings – Marshall’s attorney, Keith Jablonski told The Washington Post that she is “being attacked in this lawsuit for her Christian beliefs, based solely on her desire to play religious music and radio stations in the dental … […]