By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A former Lewis County employee is suing the county for $3 million saying he was discriminated against because of his religion.
Geoff Nelson was a detention officer in the juvenile court division until he was fired a little more than a year ago for what his superiors said was insubordination. He had worked there about four and a half years.
Nelson and his attorney contend he was ordered not to bring a Bible to work, “harassed” for being Christian and treated differently repeatedly because of his beliefs.
“As a matter of fact, they threatened him about reading a Bible at work from the time he started working there,” his attorney Mark Knapp said.
The suit is filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
Nelson, who is now 28 and lives in Rochester, is looking forward to taking the case to trial, something he says is scheduled for this coming December.
“I’m actually excited to go to court, and not just for the money, I want to get things made right,” Nelson said. “You can’t treat people different just because their religious views are different than yours or their beliefs are different.”
The county, through its attorney, denies the allegations.
Holly Spanski, the administrator of the Lewis County Juvenile Court division, said it’s an ongoing case and she can’t comment.
“The only thing I can speak about, about the allegations he’s making, is I would invite you to visit,” Spanski said earlier this week. “You would find Bibles and other religious materials here for anyone to read.”
The Lewis County Juvenile Court division in Chehalis consists of a courtroom and a 24-bed detention facility, as well as services for probation and other kinds of cases involving youth like dependency petitions and truancy issues.
About a dozen of its 28 employees are detention officers.
Nelson, according to documents provided by the county’s lawyer, was hired in November 2006 with no previous experience in the corrections field; but he graduated at the top of his class at the Juvenile Corrections Officer Academy.
The conflict came to a head in mid-January of last year, during a night shift in the detention center, according to both sides.
The workplace is described with televisions in various locations, including in the control room and in a day room shared by incarcerated juveniles and the detention officers, as well as allowances for casual reading by workers during down time.
Attorney Knapp says Nelson ought to have been able to read his Bible the same way other workers might read magazines about Hollywood stars or fishing.
Knapp said on one particular night, his client and another detention officer were watching religious DVDs when the lead individual on the three-person crew ordered them to turn it off.
“Jeff gets called in to talk with his boss, his boss is really hot under the collar and actually confiscated the DVDs, ” Knapp said.
The document from an arbitration hearing that came several months later indicates Nelson disagreed about the lead person’s directive, and subsequently told his supervisor Chuck West to put in writing an order to stop watching religious material at work.
The document also includes the following:
A memo then went out saying no television watching in the control room and television watching by employees could be done after 10 p.m. when the detainees were locked down.
West wrote to Nelson and co-worker Chevalo Duckett their DVDs should only be viewed in a private area because a co-worker found them offensive.
The document from arbitration also describes the disagreement over the television as occurring over two shifts and starting with the lead worker telling Nelson to turn off an NFL playoff game in the control room early one evening and Nelson turning it back on after the lead, Robin Hood, turned it off.
Nelson and Duckett both told Hood it had been allowed before 10 p.m. until then, during the previous year when Duckett was the supervisor during the shift.
Duckett’s supervisor position had since been cut and the two of them had not before worked with Hood as the lead.
Nelson was suspended, and then fired on Feb. 18 of last year.
The reason for his termination, according to the arbitration document, was his insubordinate and defiant attitude toward Hood, West and Spanski.
Nelson had been suspended less than three years earlier for “engaging in open Bible study on the work floor” while on duty after being warned not to, according to the arbitration document. He had also been talked to by Spanski about an allegation he was quoting scripture to detainees.
Attorney Knapp characterized the investigations as harassment and as ongoing since the time his client was hired.
“It’s a pattern of people bringing up religious subjects and discussions and (then) reporting Geoff for some type of ‘proselytizing’,” Knapp said.
Both Duckett and Nelson filed grievances through their union and complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Knapp also represented Duckett, who was not fired.
Nelson lost a hearing trying to become eligible for unemployment compensation, and he lost the arbitration between his union and employer.
He closed the EEOC case so he could file the suit in federal court, he said.
John Justice, the Tumwater attorney representing the county, said he thinks the arbitrator’s ruling upholding the termination substantiates that it was proper.
Justice said sharing the documents was the best he could do in the way of commenting on the lawsuit.
Knapp says the various hearings looked at the issues too narrowly.
“They really were very rough-shod in the way they treated him,” Knapp said.
Nelson, a father of four who has yet to find work, isn’t deterred.
He made the decision to sue the day Spanski fired him, he said. The troubles had been ongoing since early 2007, he said.
He wants to makes things right, not just for himself, but for others, he said.
He’s just a Bible-believing Christian, not someone who “went around Bible thumping,” he said.
“If that was the case, I wouldn’t be fighting it,” he said.
The case was filed October 24. It is labeled 3:11-cv-05876-RJB Nelson v. Lewis County, Washington
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Good points, Tammi… perhaps if the OTHER corrections officers were told “No TV and no reading!” as well…. unless that DID happen….
I agree with you George, but if other officers were allowed to watch programs and read magazines then this guy does have a reason to sue. Not enough was reported to make a clear case one way or the other for me. I don’t however agree with the headline of this story. “Christianity at work” Just rubbed me the wrong way Sharyn.
Well, let’s see… I’ve spent my fair share of time in a government job (and in the private sector as well) where I must stay up during the night, being vigilant, being alert… and I wasn’t allowed to kick back and read magazines or books, nor was I allowed to watch TV, no matter what it was about. And it doesn’t matter what time it is, day or night, if you are a corrections officer, I would sure want you to be vigilant your entire shift, and NOT watching TV or reading…
So if he was told to not be watching TV or reading, then perhaps he should have said “I guess I can wait until I get home to read my bible and watch my religious stuff on TV.” Instead, he continued to do so. I don’t know of too many jobs where, if they tell you to stop doing something and you keep doing it, they will let you keep your job.
This has nothing to do with him being a Christian. It has EVERYTHING to do with him being told to not do something and he continued to do it.
From what I read in the he wasn’t fired for being Christian he was fire for not listen to his bosses…. several times. I don’t know a job out there where you can ignore your boss.
Hey George, YOU try to stay awake at night “supervising” sleeping inmates. He will be persecuted for being a Christian, that is prophesied. As far as the $$$, the lawyer will get most of it. Now go ahead Christian HATERS……spout your hate.
Not print his last name???? He brought it up when he filed the lawsuit. If he was thinking about his kids he would have either done his job as he was told to or he would have found another job BEFORE quitting—instead of being fired.
Can anyone say Cha Ching? This guy is just looking for a payday. I personally think this guy was in the wrong job field! If he wanted to read his bible, watch religious dvds, and preach God’s word to troubled children then he should have become a priest. Something that makes me laugh is that a few people have stated this is not FAIR, Am I the only one that realizes that life is NOT FAIR?!?!? I really don’t think that it matters what the guy was doing at work, if he was told not to do something by his bosses and he keeps doing it, then fire his butt! He already brought this issue in front the courts and he didn’t win!! Now he is now looking for a payday. 3 million? Come on thats just stupid.
Lisarae, corrections officers, whether they are in a juvenile facility, a county jail, or a state/federal prison, are being paid to be vigilant in their duties. Kicking back reading (no matter what it is except for professional documents that directly concern their job) or watching TV or DVD’s (again, no matter what it is excepting things dealing with the performance of their jobs) is NOT part of the job description.
And it doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night… if you’re watching a football game or a religious program, how can you be vigilant in your duties of watching inmates?
I honestly dont think they should have posted his last name, because of the children. They should NOT have to deal with their ‘fathers’ stuff! Sad for the children and wife!! …He knew he would get fired because of the previous suspentions! ,,,Him saying it’s not about the money, I am calling bullsh** on that! He IS banking on winning that law suit and I bet that IS why he has NOT gone out and got another job! …1 thing I do agree with is that he should be able to read whatever he wants as long as he is not ‘pushing’ the bible on people! ..Marissa you are a wonderful young lady and I truely feel sorry for you, your siblings, & your Mother! Sad that the children go to a smaller school where everyone pretty much knows each other and they get to deal with their fathers ignorance! ….I hope this lawsuit get’s thrown out just like the rest of them have! The things people will do for a ‘free’ dollar!
@ George….is there alot of “corrections” to be done in the middle of the night, in a building full of sleeping juveniles? Not intended to defend the guy, as I believe his lawsuit is garbage, however, with 3 officials on duty, in a 24 bed facility, meaning 8 sleeping kids each, assuming all beds are full…..what exactly are they correcting during this time? In this particular setting, it seems logical and reasonable that their duties probably would include monitoring activity of these kids. That is probably limited during the night, and reading or watching TV, does not seem out of line.
The claim of religious discrimination is ridiculous @ best. Everyone is entitled, per the Constitution to engage in their own religious beliefs and activity. But that same Constitution, also ensures that those who are not interested in that engagement, not be forced to partake. Reading the bible, is one thing. Watching videos/DVD’s, that violates the rights of his co-workers, and I believe he got what he deserved, especially considering that this was not his first “offense”. If the EEOC denied his claim, my guess, this court will as well.
Good management does not just throw out orders and demand they be followed… especially in an arbitrary fashion. It may be a corrections agency, that is used to punishment as a tool to manage – but they have an obligation to the taxpayer (that would be us) to manage staff in an effective and efficient and fair manner. Doesn’t sound like things were done fairly or effectively, in this instance.
The money isn’t reimbursement – large fines are the ONLY way to motivate a bureaucracy to change behaviors.
Once you are dealing with a group, rather than individuals, the intelligence level sinks to the lowest level of all involved, and they begin to behave in a cover my butt survivor mode manner and make dumb moves to ‘cover up’ mistakes. I hope this is ‘all’ there is to the story… but I doubt it. 🙁
Marissa I know he is your dad and you will defend him no matter what, but the facts here are clear.
He had already been suspended for insubordination and still refused to change his ways. Personally I would have fired him the first time. Marissa I don’t know if you have a job or not, but when your boss says “don’t do that” you, well, don’t do it.
You also say it is not fair because he couldn’t watch whatever he wanted to. I don’t like the idea of paying someone to watch TV. If he is at work maybe he should be more worried about, oh I don’t know, work maybe. Even if he was allowed to watch TV, in no way should he be allowed to watch whatever he wants, it is after all a government job.
I don’t feel bad for him at all when you say he can’t find work. It has been 14 months for crying out loud, but I guess if your just looking for your $3 Million payday why would you even look for a job…
Marissa, if you are who you say you are and care about your dad I really advise you not to comment about his case online.
Wait no I take that back, tell us more about what really happened and maybe the prosecution will subpoena records from this site and your ISP to determine if they can use what you say here as testimony in court.
I think that would be awesome.
You need to get your facts right. He did listen to his bosses. How is it fair that he can’t watch what he wants but others can? Doesn’t make much sense to me… He has FOUR kids to help provide for, me being one of them, and do you know how hard it is to get a job right now? Obviously not. This article has got my dad all wrong and so do all you people…
This IS a frivolous lawsuit, but “Christianity at Work” as a headline? Really? If Nelson were trying to bring a copy of the Koran to jail instead of the Bible, would the headline have read “Islam at Work?” Methinks not.
After reading the documents provided I don’t see how he had his job for so long.
Good to see that because he was fired (which was upheld by both a Judge and the Arbitrator) that he is now looking for a big payday.
This guy just did not want to listen to his bosses. Sounds like a easy call to me.
Lets just hope the courts get it right again.
$3 Million?! That’s just plain ludicrous.
If he was a corrections officer, then he shouldn’t have been allowed to read or watch tv in the first place… the whole idea behind hiring them is for CORRECTIONS. That means he should be worried about the inmates, not reading or watching tv, and it doesn’t matter what they are reading or watching! They can relax on their own time!!!!