Fired employee sues, claiming religious bias

Springfield, Mass. A woman who was fired from her job at a Costco store for refusing to remove her eyebrow ring has sued the discount retailer, saying the company violated her religious beliefs.

Kimberly M. Cloutier of West Springfield said she belonged to the Church of Body Modification, and that her piercings, which include several earrings in each ear, are worn as a sign of her faith.

Costco has denied it discriminated against Cloutier and argued that she was dismissed for refusing to comply with the store’s dress code barring facial and tongue jewelry.

The Church of Body Modification, based in Portland, Ore., describes itself on its Web site as an interfaith denomination that expresses spirituality through piercing, tattooing and other body modification.

Cloutier, 27, filed a complaint about her dismissal with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which found in May that the eyebrow ring qualified as a religious practice under federal law. She then sued Costco for $2 million in damages in federal court.

Statue of the Virgin finds special love in small town

San Antonio Roman Catholics are visiting a church in the small Texas town of Devine in big numbers to see the statue of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos.

Monsignor Adolfo Valdivia Aguirre, pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, said his parish could wind up receiving 30,000 visitors while the visiting statue is on display, Oct. 19 through Sunday.

The statue is named for the town in the Mexican state of Jalisco where the devoted believe a young girl killed in an acrobatic performance was miraculously brought back to life in the 1600s through the Virgin Mary’s intercession.

The small, 350-year-old Virgin, with long, dark hair and flowing blue robes, is a replica of the original image and has been exhibited across the United States and Mexico, Aguirre said.

Devine is about 30 miles southwest of San Antonio.