Press & News

Jerry Maatman Quoted in Business Insurance
10/17/2005

Jerry is quoted the October 17, 2005 issue of Business Insurance in an article entitled “Chaplains ministering to workplace needs.” The article discusses the implications of employers utilizing chaplains for employee assistance programs, and the problems that this practice may pose under employment discrimination laws.

"While chaplains have long been a fixture in the military and in hospitals, more are making their way into mainstream American business today, addressing employee concern that range from marital and family problems to job stress to illness and death. In some cases, these "corporate chaplains" coordinate with existing employee assistance programs, while in others, a corporate chaplain will actually act as the EAP itself.

"Legal liability issues remain, though, and . . . Labor and employment attorneys say that employers need to be careful to not run afoul of religious discrimination harassment laws."

“Employers are obligated to refrain from efforts to proselytize or endorse any particular faith," said Gerald Maatman, Jr., a labor attorney with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago. "Chaplains in the workplace - - especially to the extent they introduce faith-based issues into the office - - may breed the conditions for a discriminatory complaint, especially if an employee objects and claims it makes his or her working conditions uncomfortable." . “ . . Introducing a chaplain is akin to making an employee listen to religious issues when they don't necessarily wish to engage in such a conversation," Mr. Maatman said.