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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Security Guard Says He Was Fired By Playboy For His Religion
Los Angeles Times 26Mar00 D2
By Ann W. O'Neill
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- An LDS security guard has filed a lawsuit
against his former employer, Playboy Enterprises, claiming the
company discriminated against him because he was Mormon. Mark
Bradley says he was fired December 1, 1998 after his supervisor
learned he was LDS.
Playboy denies the charges, saying that Bradley was a temporary
employee and was never hired permanently. Playboy spokesman Bill
Farley also says that Bradley's allegation are "ludicrous."
But Bradley claims that his supervisor learned of his religion
several weeks after he was hired in an innocent conversation. Bradley
says he simply mentioned that he had been married for 15 years and
had six children. His supervisor, Joe Piastro, gave a profanity-laced
response, saying, "What are you, a Mormon?" Bradley then responded
that he was.
Later that same day, Bradley says Playboy security advisor Bill Bates
told him that if he had known Bradley was a Mormon, he never would
have hired him, adding that Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who Bradley
was hired to protect, "hates Mormons." According to Bradley, Bates
told him: "The fact is, the old man simply doesn't want you here and
there is nothing I can do about it."
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