Article created: 03/15/2005 02:27:26 AM
Wiccan priestess fired
Claims time off for religious holidays cost her job
ANTHONY SPINELLI  
tspinelli@ctpost.com
http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_2608453

SEYMOUR She's the witch to watch.

Alicia Folberth of Derby, a Wiccan high priestess, taped a cable
television program Monday, hours after she was fired from her job,
ostensibly because of her need for time off to practice her faith.

Folberth, 39, said she was fired as a graphic designer from U.S.
Surgical Inc. in North Haven after seven years because she began
requesting unpaid holidays off.

She appeared red-eyed from crying at Tele-Media Cable headquarters
for a taping of a community access program for witches called The
Witchin' Hour.

The program, hosted by fellow Derby Wiccan Rapid Freeman, will air on
Tele-Media channel 10 in the Naugatuck Valley Friday at 8:30 p.m.

My troubles began when I asked for my religious holidays off without
pay, said Folberth, who said the technical reason she was given for
the firing was job performance.

She said she will get an attorney and pursue a lawsuit. In the
meantime, though, she used her circumstance to get the message out
that Connecticut needs legislation providing unpaid religious days
off in the workplace.

Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all other religions with numerous
lesser-known holidays would benefit from the law as much as any
Wiccan, Folberth said.

Witchin' Hour host Freeman said he's been pushing over the last year
to find legislators to sponsor the bill, which is already law in
Massachusetts.

This land is based on the right to worship as we wish, Freeman said.

Several legislators from the region could not be

reached to comment on the potential for such a bill. A legislative
aid in Hartford said many companies already are in the informal
practice of allowing unpaid holidays for those with lesser-known
religious observations.

Wiccans, for example, have roughly eight significant holidays, such
as the upcoming Vernal Equinox, called Ostara. Days off for lesser-
known religious holidays are OK at some companies, as long as the
employee doesn't expect to be paid, the aid said.

The bill Folberth and Freeman are seeking would put those goodwill
practices into law so all companies would have to allow it.

At U.S. Surgical, an official would not comment on the specifics of
why Folberth was fired.

Miss Folberth was an at-will employee. There is no need for us to
comment as to the reasons for her termination, except to state that
the termination was fully in compliance with Tyco Healthcare and U.S.
Surgical Inc. policy and all applicable law, said David Young,
spokesman for Tyco, which owns U.S. Surgical.

For more information on Wiccans in Connecticut, visit their Web
site at pagancommunitychurch.org. Their church is the Panthean
Temple, 608 Whitney Ave., New Haven.