Meet Amanda Donaldson, a Stage III Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer Patient. In a recent blog entry her husband claims she was fired from her job by her employer Dr. Dawson at ‘El Dorado Chiropractic’ because of her illness and for her lack of religious beliefs.
May 4th was Amanda’s first day back to work since April 14th because of her mastectomy, the surgical removal of the entire affected breast. Mr. Donaldson claims that “a few hours into her shift he(Dr. Dawson) again brings up that she needs Jesus in her life and she respectfully declined.”
In a reply email to AtheosToday, Mr. Donaldson stated that his wife was then terminated. “She was told to leave. She was told ‘Her attitude towards God was no longer welcome in his business’.”
Brant Donaldson, Amanda’s husband runs www.saveamanda.com and frequently blogs about the experiences he has gone through with his wife and the physical, mental and financial pain of suffering through Breast Cancer.
“I (Brant Donaldson) go to work Wednesday and my boss brings me into his office and tells me he wants to cut my hours down to two days a week….the list of people trying to make this as hard as they can is growing exponentially..” Brant writes in his blog at http://saveamanda.blogspot.com. Brant was given reduced hours due to the fact that he takes his wife to doctor appointments because she is still under medical restrictions from driving. He has found a new job since then.
The Donaldson’s claim that on March 26th “Dr. Dawson somehow found the site and blog and immediately began threatening her over her job” because of Brant Donaldson religious opinions posted on ‘The Cancer Chronicles’ blog. Brant goes on to say in his blog that Dr. Dawson “…threatened to fire her if I did not remove the religious part of the entries…”. For fear of consequences towards his wife, Mr. Donaldson removed his personal religious opinions from previously posted entries.
Brant also stated that Dr. Dawson “…would still pressure his religious viewpoint on her and threaten to fire her if she continued to be an atheist.” And that his wife “…has been told that she is being punished for her lack of faith.”
When AtheosToday contacted Dr. Scott Dawson who owns ‘El Dorado Chiropractic’, he did not feel that an interview would be appropriate since he has been threatened with legal action, but he did go on to state in his reply email to AtheosToday that “…I can tell you that I did not fire Amanda. She walked out after we had a disagreement, which involved communication and work attitude. It had nothing to do with cancer or religious beliefs.”
Amanda was approved for Emergency Medicaid, which covers most of the medical expenses. The Donaldson’s are taking donations to help pay for the cost of living while she missed work from medical visits and the mastectomy. Amanda starts chemotherapy on May 22nd. If you would like to donate to the Donaldsons please visit www.saveamanda.com.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:56 PM
Just wanted to save everyone the whole ‘There must be something she is leaving out’ argument. I never hold anything back and wouldn’t start now.
If she were just fired, it would suck since she is sick and all, but the being fired for not believing in fairy tales thing is what has set me off.
I will answer any questions, as will Amanda. So far the only arguement the good Dr. has is that she ‘walked away’. If she ‘walked away’ then why did he take her keys to the building away? And why can’t she simply walk back and have her job?
This is a great article, thanks for posting this. To anyone that cares, feel free to repost this, or anything on my sites.
This is no longer just about a difference of opinion on how the universe works, it is additional drama added on to an already complicated situation.
-Brant Donaldon-
http://www.saveamanda.com
May 6th, 2009 at 6:08 AM
As the person that the article is about, I would like to that the writer(s). I would also like to make the comment that, I, as a mother of 3 young children, who loved her job and did the best I could, would NEVER walk out. I did walk away from the actual location due to not having proper transportation to get me home. This in turn caused major swelling due to fluid buildup from the exertion of walking 2.5 miles and I have once again had my activity restricted because they had to put a drain in my side to remove the fluid.
We, the Donaldson’s, as a family went to the doctor before I returned to work to make sure everything was ok and there were not going to be any problems and his response at that time was “No, I cant wait for you to come back to work, but I cannot have this kind of thing associated with my office” referring to the blog on the website and its open talk of atheism.
I have never once spoken against his god in the workplace or elsewhere. I have been a very tolerant, quiet athiest and even accept ofers to “pray” for me with the thoughts that this is all these people know to do and I will never speak out against one showing concern for me and my family. After being told “Your cancer is your punishment from god for your sin” I can no longer tolerate these believers. I am a person that believes that this country has a freedom to practice what ever religion you choose and have never disrespected this, even in the workplace where I have been continually pressured to go to this thing called “The Road”. I do believe that I have this same freedom, some say atheism is a religion some say it is a lack thereof I am not going into that, but I do have the right to believe in whatever I want and because I do not believe there is this magical being in the clouds making good people sick for their punishment does not mean that I should be terminated from my workplace.
I cried when he told me to leave, I asked him why, I told him I didnt see that I had done anything wrong and asked him please to tell me what I had done wrong so the behavior could be corrected, to which he replied “THere is no place for your thought, opinions and beliefs on god in my office, please give me your key and leave.” I then told him that no one even knew but him how I believed, I didnt talk to the patients about it and never brought it up when the patients asked to pray for me. I told him that I had been very tolerant of his beliefs and thoses of the patients and asked why this was a problem, to this he replied “I cannot have this negativity toward god associated with this place (indicating his office), its all I have.” I told him that was wrong because I was never negative nor did I have an outspoken attitude about my beliefs within his office to which he replied “You’re never here anyway!” He then proceeded to scream and yell at me while I was trying to get the key to his office off my keychain and gather my belongings.
I am sorry, but I have at least Stage 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (Breast Cancer) and I had just had my breast and 15 lymph nodes removed, I could not return back to work the next day and I have a letter from him stating that I was not to return unti the 4th of May anyway. I am glad to see that there are people who care about our cause and I will assure you that the ACLU has been contacted and will be contacted again regarding this matter. I am doing everything I can to make sure that those who “need Jesus” but dont want him are not punished for it, at least by this man.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:03 AM
I am really sorry to hear about this type of discrimination in the US…of all places.
They equate atheism as evil, but I assure you that they are the evil ones.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:23 AM
I’m really sorry to hear you had to go through this Amanda.
I really hope this guy gets his ass handed to him in court.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:38 PM
I was once attacked for having a copy of the god delusion with me.
All atheists are apparently evil for not having a god.
I feel so sorry for you.
May 14th, 2009 at 8:42 PM
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8948-Dallas-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m5d14-Religion-in-the-workplace-an-atheists-battle-against-discrimination-pt-1
May 17th, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Amanda, I am horrified by your story. I’m so sorry you had to go through such a nightmare on top of everything else that you have had to go through.
My family and I gave my grandmother hospice care at home for over a year after she was diagnosed with cancer (I was 22 at the time), and 10 years later, I am still devastated by what we went through. I can only imagine what your family is going through.
I used to work with a pentecostal “gentleman” who did nothing but preach all day at work, and I was extremely tolerant of him despite the bizarre nature of his ramblings. I never said anything one way or the other. He later found out that I was an atheist and after that he constantly told me I was going to hell and tried to “save” me. I had to quit eventually – it was too much to take and I was spending all of my lunch hours crying in my car because he was so cruel and nasty. I tried to make friends with him and show him that I wasn’t “evil” but he just wouldn’t stop. Before I quit I tried going to HR, and talked to the manager (who went to the same church) but I was basically told that he had the right to express his views and that I was being extremely intolerant. After that I was pretty much shunned until I quit. So I can identify with you in that respect too.
People, in general, are a very cruel and sorry lot it seems. To paraphrase Voltaire, those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.
I wish you and your family love and peace. Good luck!
May 17th, 2009 at 3:36 PM
http://www.examiner.com/x-8948-Dallas-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m5d17-Religion-in-the-workplace-the-Christians-side-of-the-discrimination-story
[quote]After speaking with Amanda Donaldson (in part one) I decided the only fair thing to do would be to contact Dr. Scott Dawson of Eldorodo Chiropractic and get his side of the story. I wrote down his words during our conversation.
I called his place of business leaving a message with the woman who answered the phone including my name, title and number. In about five minutes he called back and I let him know I was hoping to talk with him about a former employee. He asked if it was Amanda and when I said, “yes” [b]he immediately began to defend himself [/b]before I could ask a question or get another word in.
He started off saying “I didn’t fire her,” “she stormed out,” “it certainly was not about religion,” “they’re trying to hurt me,” “it’s all a fabrication,” rewording and repeating himself often until I could stop him and let him know I wasn’t calling to accuse him of anything or pick at him, I was calling to get his side of the story to try and find out where the truth lies.
When I asked him about Amanda’s performance he said, “She was good, but defensive when I would correct her work.” He stated that he thought this situation was a “simple misunderstanding” due to “poor communication.”
He claimed Amanda’s “attitude wasn’t good” and said, “her head’s not right.” When I asked him just what that meant he said, “Her mind wasn’t on her job.” When I asked him if he thought she might have been distracted due to her situation dealing with cancer he said, “I don’t know, maybe.”
When I asked Amanda if her situation distracted her at work she said, “No, my work was more intense and organized due to my situation, it helped me not to focus on the cancer, an escape kind of.”
He said that Amanda and her husband are just “bitter and angry” and stated that he thinks none of this would be happening if it weren’t for her husband’s influence. He claimed that he always knew Amanda to be a “woman of God” and that the idea she is an atheist was “new” to him. He said, “They were damaged before they met me,” because they had “hatred for the world.”
I asked Amanda if she humored the idea that she was a Christian while working there and she said, “No, I respected his belief but never humored the idea I was a Christian.”
He further claimed, “Amanda prayed with me and the patients.” When I asked her about this she said that the only time something of this sort happened was when [b]Dawson and the patients would pray over her[/b] and for her in regard to her cancer, but that she never actually participated other than allowing it to happen out of respect for his office.
Eventually Dr. Dawson mentioned not being happy with what Amanda’s husband was writing. When I asked him what he was referring to he said, “[b]I found a blog[/b] 6-8 weeks ago. I wasn’t happy about the negativity in it and was afraid patients would be deterred. Amanda said she was keeping it ‘out of here’ but I didn’t want negative stuff associated with the office.”
He went on to make two other statements that are very important to Amanda’s story. He said, [b]“It’s a Christ-oriented office, they (meaning employees) need to be on the same page I am.”[/b]
I asked if the orientation of the office meant he only treated certain people and he said, “No, I treat anyone, but I’m a person of faith, connected to God, and I’ll hire anyone who is qualified.” However, he then immediately added, “but[b] I do not want to hire anyone with a different world view.”[/b]
Dr. Dawson often repeated that he wanted “it to all go away.”
To be honest it was difficult for me to get a direct answer from Dr. Dawson and he stuttered often on his words. He went on to say he wishes Amanda the best and claimed he did everything he could to help her by holding her position while she was gone for surgery and providing a positive environment for her to work in.
My analysis is that his words matched up with Amanda’s story and his immediate exploding defensiveness says something about his claims.[b] He couldn’t keep his story straight from one sentence to the next[/b], yet the three times I’ve talked with Amanda via email and phone her story is always the exact same.
For part one, Amanda’s side of this story, click here.
For more details visit [b]saveamanda.com[/b][/quote]
May 20th, 2009 at 8:26 PM
CBS 11 interviewed us today. They only had time for a two minute segment but are waiting to see how things go with the Employment Commission who is going to do a full investigation into the claim that Amanda was fired for being an Atheist.
[url]http://cbs11tv.com/religion/Atheist.Claims.Discrimination.2.1015271.html[/url]
May 21st, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Why does Mark Pogue say “in the US . . . of all places.”?
It is to be expected that this would happen in the US. The US is the only “advanced” nation left where Christian persecution of non-Christians is not only normal, it is institutionalised and government sanctioned and supported. This is not rhetoric or exxageration for effect – all you need do is follow a few atheist web sites, and read the news articles they post, to understand this sad reality.
In Japan, Aus, NZ, Canada, or much of Europe, this would be an abberation; but not in the US. But then, courts in those countries would also award heavy punitive damages for the Donanldson’s in those countries as well. Too bad it won’t happen for these people. What they really need to be doing is seeking out the assistance of their local atheist group for emotional support.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:24 AM
By firing Amanda and taking away her health insurance, this c o c k s u c k e r Donaldson basically signed her death warrant. There’s a special place in hell for people that act like that. I hope there is a god and I hope Donaldson ends up screaming in the flames forever for what he did to Amanda.