( CNS) -- A federal appeals court recently upheld a lower court ruling that Hewlett-Packard (HP) did not violate the rights of a devout Christian employee who was fired for posting biblical verses on his cubicle that condemned homosexuality.

In a 3-0 ruling Tuesday, the San Francisco-based court said Richard Peterson, who worked in HP's customer support division in Boise, Idaho, for more than two decades, was not a victim of religious discrimination, Reuters reported.

Peterson claimed that HP unfairly singled him out for punishment while allowing other employees to display religious symbols and pro-diversity posters. But Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote that Peterson had been fired "because he violated the company's harassment policy by attempting to generate a hostile and intolerant work environment" and disobeyed managers' orders to remove the postings, "The San Francisco Chronicle" reported.

Reinhardt said Peterson's postings, which included a passage from Leviticus about making gay sex punishable by death, were visible to co-workers and customers who passed by his cubicle. Reinhardt quoted Peterson as saying his messages were "intended to be hurtful [because] you cannot have correction unless people are faced with the truth."

Peterson's attorney, Christ Troupis, said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal judge in Idaho previously dismissed Peterson's lawsuit, which sought damages for lost wages.

"I think this [appeals court] opinion is saying freedom of ... religious belief is to be silenced in the workplace," said Troupis, noting that Peterson, "a very quiet man who's had no trouble working with gay people," was unfairly portrayed by the court as an anti-homosexual crusader.

© 2004 charismanews.com
© 2004 Maranatha Christian News Service