Posted: 02/05/2010 at 6:22pm | IP Logged

Lisa Graves - To hide that (the cross) would be a conscious act of denying Christ and my faith.

FedEx Lets Employee Come Back to Work, Despite Her Cross

WorldNet Daily

SPRINGFIELD, MO - A FedEx employee who this week was ordered onto an "administrative leave" for wearing a Christian cross to work has been told she can return to her job – with her cross.

"They called me earlier. I can go back to work tomorrow. I get to wear my cross," Lisa Graves told WND today. "Actually I'll find out what's going on [when I go in]."

She said the company volunteered to pay her for the time she was banished from the office, but the policy still is a concern since the company interpreted it as banning the cross.

The case involving Graves developed in the Springfield, Missouri, region where the company has several stores.

She explained earlier this week to KY3 Television there that she was approached by her supervisor and given the option of hiding the cross or being placed on leave for the dress code violation.

A statement released by the company at the time said, "Our team member is still employed with the FedEx office and is on leave for not complying with our dress code until she comes into compliance. She signed the code upon hiring and at least three times since, including in the last 30 days.

"Her administrative leave is attributed to being out of uniform for multiple months. There are personal insignia limitations in the dress code but religious exceptions are given when requested and validated."

Graves said she wasn't told about any "exceptions," but that she was never granted one.

The cross that got Lisa Graves into trouble with FedEx.

The company policy states that banned items of jewelry include "political" and "personal" insignias. Graves told the television station she had no idea a cross was considered a "personal insignia."

She's worked in the Springfield office for more than two years, and explained to station reporters she loves her work but loves her Christian beliefs even more.

"To hide that would be a conscious act of denying Christ and my faith," she told the station.

She reported she was told last week by a supervisor she could not keep visible her cross necklace. Then this week she was approached again.

"I was asked by my immediate supervisor to hide it again and I told them I couldn't do that. I wouldn't do that," she said.

"It worries me. I have a family. I'm a single mother," she said then. She said the necklace will remain an issue.

"I can't find peace in putting this away so as to not offend someone else," she said.

A company spokeswoman told WND that the company had decided to allow the cross if it was on a shorter chain so that it would be against Graves' throat, rather than in front of her uniform shirt.

The spokeswoman also said there was an issue over the type of pants worn, and that was resolved, too.

Graves said she hopes that the company is abandoning the policy, not simply making a one-time exception.

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Source:  WorldNetDaily.com

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