Women said peer was 'demonically oppressed'

By EVA-MARIE AYALA

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

ARLINGTON - Two women fired from UT-Arlington told supervisors that they prayed and rubbed religious oils on a co-worker's cubicle because they believed she was "demonically oppressed," according to personnel records the university released Friday.

Evelyne Micky Shatkin and Linda Shifflett filed a lawsuit against the University of Texas at Arlington on Tuesday alleging that they were fired illegally last spring based on their religion, age and gender.

Shatkin has said they and a male co-worker prayed for a female colleague in a nondisruptive way after work hours March 3.

In an e-mail to supervisors, the male co-worker said he was invited to witness the praying and cleansing but became uncomfortable when Shatkin began to chant loudly and rub perfumed oil on the absent co-worker's cubicle wall.

The man quoted Shatkin as praying, "You vicious evil dogs. Get the hell out of here in the name of Jesus. ... I command you to leave."

The man wrote that he was not an active participant and that he saw the two women rub the oil on other employees' work areas as well.

Liberty Legal Institute, a Plano-based religious-freedom group representing the two women, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Earlier this week, Shatkin said she was not trying to exorcise or harass anyone but was invited by the male co-worker to pray on a day that they knew the female co-worker would be absent.

Her attorneys questioned why the two women, both older than 40, were fired and the male employee, who was younger than 35, was not, even though, the attorneys say, he had uttered "Amen" and "Yes, Lord" in agreement with the women during the incident.

University officials have said that they would not comment on the litigation but that UT-Arlington does not discriminate against employees.

According to personnel files, Shatkin and the woman for whom she was praying had conflicts that led to meditation sessions in 2005.

At that time, they were warned that disciplinary action would be taken if their behavior did not improve.

When confronted by supervisors about the March 3 incident, Shatkin and Shifflett admitted to the prayer session, according to a statement filed by Gary Cole, UT-Arlington's vice president for development.

Shifflett told Cole that the male co-worker was not an active participant in the prayer session, according to the documents.

Cole said that Shatkin and Shifflett's actions created a hostile work environment by targeting the absent co-worker and that the women used university property for personal use, a violation of school policy.

"They articulated that she was demonically oppressed, entered her cubicle work office to perform these rituals without her knowledge or consent and stayed after work for non-business activities without permission," he wrote.

Cole also wrote that he later learned that Shatkin told others he "was being used as a tool of the devil and that she would pray for me."

Shatkin appealed her dismissal to university officials, saying she received no warning that she would be fired if she prayed in the workplace.

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I think they meant mediation, not meditation..... O_O