A 34-year-old man has filed an $800,000 lawsuit against a Albany construction company, claiming the owner fired him after he refused to attend weekly Bible study.
Coleman told Dahl that the requirement was illegal, but Dahl wouldn’t budge, according to the lawsuit.
In order to keep his job, Coleman obliged for nearly six months but ultimately told Dahl he couldn’t go, the suit says.
“He said ‘You’re not going to tell me how to run my own company,’” Coleman continued.
Coleman said his religious beliefs are indigenous: He’s half Caucasian and half Native American, with Cherokee and Blackfoot heritage.
Coleman worked for the small construction company from October 2017 to this past April, when he was fired, the suit states.
Dahl's Albany attorney, Kent Hickam, doesn't dispute that Dahl requires all of his employees to attend Bible study, but says it’s legal because Dahl pays them to attend. »