Scientology Followup: Catholic Agent’s “Job in Jeopardy”

St. Petersburg Times (Florida)

June 11, 1995, Sunday, City Edition

                                                         

Word at Allstate: hush

Allstate Corp. has threatened to fire an employee for speaking to the press.

Allstate issued a “job in jeopardy” notice to John Softye, a New York  agent who complained in an article in the Wall Street Journal and others about  a consultant teaching Scientology management practices.

“The articles in which your statements appeared had a potentially damaging  impact on Allstate’s reputation,” said the notice. It warned he’d be fired if he spoke to the press again without approval.

Mr. Softye, a devout Catholic who says he resented having to sit through  Scientology-based training, sent a letter to the company saying the reprimand  was a “clear form of religious discrimination.”

The Journal reported in March that between 1988 and 1992 Allstate had  employed a consultant who taught Scientology management principles.

As reported, Allstate is contesting religious discrimination complaints  filed by two agents with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.