Accused of 'harassment' even though lesbian approached him
By Michael Carl
A Massachusetts man has been fired from his sales position at the Logan Airport branch in Boston of Brookstone allegedly for telling a female manager that his Christian faith says homosexuality is wrong.
Peter Vadala was fired and the company says he violated a tolerance policy. But Vadala reports his dismissal came because he expressed his Christian view of homosexuality after a female manager made repeated references as she approached him four times during work hours to her plans to marry her lesbian partner.
"At the start of the day, she told me she was getting married. I told her 'Congratulations,' and asked, 'Where's he taking you on your honeymoon?'" Vadala said.
"She replied that her partner was a 'she,'" he continued, "So I immediately tried to change the subject.
"I think she knew I was uncomfortable talking about it," he continued. "But, she brought it up to me three more times during the day.
"After the fourth time she told me about her plan to marry her partner, I told her, 'I think homosexuality is bad stuff,'" Vadala said.
"That's what I said. I wasn't rude about it and I didn't act disrespectfully to her," he said. "All the woman said to me as she left the store was, 'Human Resources buddy. You keep your opinions to yourself!'"
Vadala said when he was hired he went through the company's training program, including a requirement to watch a video.
"In the video, there was a homosexual man who said he overheard two workers talking. One man in the outsourced video tells the other, 'If a homosexual man hits on me, he better watch out.'
“The homosexual man in the video said he was offended, but I'm not allowed to be offended by a homosexual ... I was told that since homosexual marriage is supposedly legal in Massachusetts, that I was wrong for being offended," Vadala said.
A Brookstone human resources staffer called a few days after the incident and Vadala said he told the caller he wanted to resolve the matter.
"I spoke to (the human resources staff member) and I wanted to resolve it. I said that for his sake, the matter needed be resolved because this manager will be around customers who, chances are, will be offended by the types of things she is saying," Vadala said
But during the course of the conversation Vadala said it became clear the call wasn't about resolving the issue.
It was a few days later Vadala received a termination letter from Brookstone.
The letter accused Vadala of "harassment" and described his comments as "inappropriate and unprofessional." Further, the letter charged, he was "imposing" his beliefs upon others.
Vadala said the letter from Brookstone, signed by Susan McGrath, contained numerous false accusations.
In a copy made available to WND, the letter reads, “You acknowledge that you then expressed to Ms. (name blacked out) that you disagreed strongly with her homosexual lifestyle and that [you] believe it is wrong. You describe it in your statement, as you did when speaking with me, as 'deviant.'"
But Vadala said he didn't use that word.
McGrath's letter further asserts that a sales associate "who was working with you at the time … provided a written statement indicating that while she did not witness the conversation … you did tell her later that you 'knew (she) is marrying another woman' and that you 'hate people like that.'"
Vadala reports he also did not say that.
McGrath refused WND's request to comment on the dispute. Instead she suggested Brookstone’s legal department be contacted. That department did not respond.
When contacted about the firing, store manager Katelyn Woodard said, "You need to speak to human resources about this and if you call this number again, I'll file harassment charges."
Vadala said it's clear to him he was fired for his faith.
"Absolutely," he confirmed.
