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Pickup Politics Spurs Firing Posted 2006-10-20
 Cargill Employee’s Sign Endorsed Marriage Amendment
By Jeff Mellott

Luis Padilla was fired as a human resources clerk at Cargill after 
adorning his pickup truck with his opinion on the amendment to ban 
same-sex marriage. A Cargill attorney said the message could be 
considered harassment.

TIMBERVILLE — A Broadway man claims Cargill fired him from his job here 
during the first week of October because a message on his pickup truck 
supported the proposed constitutional amendment on marriage.

But a company attorney responded that Luis Padilla, who worked in the 
human resources office at Cargill, was dismissed for insubordination 
because he did not remove the message, which Cargill officials say 
could be considered harassment.

Padilla’s supporters say Cargill’s act is discriminatory against 
Christians.

The proposed state amendment, which is on the ballot for the Nov. 7 
election, would define marriage as a union between one man and one 
woman.

Matter of Principle

Padilla, 40, supports the marriage amendment. On his truck’s rear 
window he wrote, "Please, vote for marriage on Nov. 7."

The issue, Padilla said, is beyond getting his job back.

"It is about honor," he said.

Padilla said he was attempting to reach an accommodation with the 
company about the message written in white letters on his black pickup 
truck when he was fired.

On Again, Off Again

Padilla said he parked his truck in the company parking lot for two 
days before he heard of a complaint. Padilla said a supervisor told him 
to remove the sign.

Padilla complied.

The next day, Padilla put the message back on his truck and drove to 
work. He parked his truck outside the company gate.

But Padilla was later told the company owned the land where he parked 
his truck.

Padilla said he then received permission to cover the message with 
cardboard.

After doing that, Padilla sought to appeal his case to a higher company 
official. After a regularly scheduled managers’ meeting, Padilla said 
he was dismissed.

"If this happened to me," said Padilla, who is from Honduras and is in 
the United States on a work permit, "it can happen to anyone. Not just 
on this issue, but on any social issue," he said.

Harassment

Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said the message was considered harassment 
because people who complained about it said the sign offended them.

The actions by Padilla, Klein said, did not follow the spirit of the 
company’s policies.

As far as other signs that people might find offensive, each case would 
have to considered individually, particularly if laws were involved, 
Klein said.

"I think you use common sense and rational judgment," Klein said.

Family Forum Gets Involved

After being fired, Padilla looked to Dean Welty of the Valley Family 
Forum for help. According to its Web site, the forum is "committed to 
renewing the spiritual, moral, and cultural vision" of the Founding 
Fathers.

Welty, who had spoken to Padilla’s class when he was a student at 
Eastern Mennonite University, put him in touch with Rita Dunaway, 
formerly of the Rutherford Institute.

According to its Web site, the institute’s mission is to provide legal 
services in the defense of religious and civil liberties and to educate 
the public on important issues affecting their constitutional freedoms.

In a letter dated Oct. 12 to Cargill General Manager Wesley Carter, 
Dunaway called the treatment of Padilla "unacceptable."

The message on Padilla’s truck, she said, could in no way be considered 
harassment.

‘Corporate Bullying’

The firing of Padilla, said Dunaway in her letter, "not only reeks of 
discrimination and hostility toward Christians, but is nothing less 
than a clear example of corporate bullying."

In the letter, written on Valley Family Forum letterhead, Dunaway 
demanded that Cargill give Padilla his job back with back pay and an 
apology.

"Apart from the legal ramifications of this case, you must also be 
aware that Cargill faces a potential public relations nightmare in the 
event that this travesty of justice becomes known to the local media 
and, through them, to the rich community of faith in the Shenandoah 
Valley."

Reaction to the firing is reaching an audience beyond the Shenandoah 
Valley.

Vote4marriage.org has posted Padilla’s firing on its Web site.

"It appears that Mr. Padilla’s civil rights have been violated in an 
egregious act of viewpoint discrimination and violation of his right to 
free speech," Victoria Cobb, spokeswoman for va4marriage.org, said on 
the organization’s Web site.

"It is abundantly clear that those who seek to impose same-sex marriage 
on society are not at all interested in tolerance of other viewpoints. 
And they are willing to go so far as to destroy a man’s family and take 
his livelihood to get their way. I believe that when they hear this 
story, the people of Virginia will be appalled."

According to the Web site, va4marriage.org and The Family Foundation 
are talking with attorneys to determine what legal options are 
available to Padilla, Cobb said.

Tolerance Policies

In his reply, Cargill attorney Al Sufka said Padilla had left the 
company no choice because of his insubordination. His actions, Sufka 
said in the letter, created an environment that was inconsistent with 
his role in human relations.

Klein said that Padilla was in a position to uphold company policies.

The message on Padilla’s truck could be construed as a show of 
hostility, Sufka said.

"Although Mr. Padilla is clearly entitled to believe whatever he wants, 
he has no legal right to act in a manner that violates our company 
policies of equal employment opportunity, non-harassment and tolerance 
of differences."

Insubordination

Cargill, Sufka said, neither opposes nor supports Padilla’s beliefs 
regarding the marriage amendment.

"When ordered to do something relatively simple — remove from his truck 
two signs that other employees could have reasonably construed as a 
show of hostility and intolerance toward homosexuals — Mr. Padilla 
decided to ignore the warning and disobey the order.

"By refusing to obey the order, he demonstrated that he could not be 
trusted to enforce and promote our employment policies because his 
personal beliefs mattered more to him."

Contact Jeff Mellott at 574-6290


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