Earlier this week, TWO’s John Becker reported exclusively about Danielle Morantez, a 26-year-old Vermont mother who was fired by the Salvation Army after coming out as bisexual.
Morantez took a job as a Salvation Army case worker in order to provide for her family. She went above and beyond the call of duty, doubling the number of needy Vermonters the organization was able to serve and streamlining programs. Clearly, Danielle’s work — the sole source of income for her family — was exemplary.
But when Morantez read her employee handbook, which the Salvation Army didn’t give her until she’d worked there for nearly two months, she found three troubling items relating to sexual orientation and employment discrimination. She relayed her concerns to her supervisors, coming out as bisexual in the process.
That was last Friday. On Monday, regional supervisors at the Salvation Army ordered Morantez fired and escorted off the premises like a criminal. But Danielle’s only “crime” was being true to herself and living with integrity.
Danielle Morantez was fired, but now she’s teaming up with Truth Wins Out to fire back. TWO conducted an exclusive video interview with Danielle yesterday at her home and in front of the Salvation Army’s Burlington offices.
Click here to watch TWO’s exclusive video (or watch it below) and listen to Danielle tell her story. When you’re done, sign Danielle’s Change.org petition asking the Salvation Army to end employment discrimination against LGBT people.
While I appreciate the difficult situation that Danielle now finds herself in, she should have realized at the start that she was employed by a religious institution. Hence the name – Salvation Army. If she had done some investigation into the company before applying and interviewing as it is suggested on most job seeking websites then she would have known about their conservative viewpoint on this issue.
The idea that one must investigate a company before seeking employment from them is perhaps noble, but in no way practical when jobs are so scarce. Furthermore, the language in the Salvation Army employee handbook (which I’ve copied here from Jezebel.com) is vaguely almost fair:
“The Salvation Army does not make employment decisions on the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation or preference. However, The Salvation Army does reserve the right to make employment decisions on the basis of an employee’s conduct or behavior that is incompatible with the principles of The Salvation Army (15).”
They’ve left a lot of wiggle room for themselves. I’m sure they’ve done so to avoid either lawsuits or loss of federal funding, or both. It seems there really is a case here, at first glance.
First if the social service agency received federal funds they should adhere to federal guidelines. If, in the United States, they are social service first and church second what they did was illegal. Further they do not just discriminate against sexual orientation but age and gender are high on their list. Employees often fear speaking out for fear of losing their jobs. Officers are furnished with house, car, furniture, paid utility bills and if they wish to be in a same sex situation it is swept under the rug. The truth hurts but what was once good is now a tarnished bell resting on laurels no longer in place.