A group of former employees is suing a Michigan dentist for religious discrimination because, they said, they were fired when they complained about Christian music that was played constantly in the office.

Tina Marshall runs a dental practice in Lake Orion, which is north of Detroit. In 2013, Marshall joined a controversial ministry run by Craig Stasio, who is also a chiropractor and massage therapist in nearby Clinton Township. After joining Stasio’s ministry, Marshall began to play Christian music in her office all the time. According to the Clarkston News, staff asked Marshall to turn the music off – and in some cases, turned it off themselves.

The lawsuit states that the music initially played only during the day, but eventually it was played all the time – even when the office wasn’t open “to keep the demons out.”

“I told her I did not think it was right to play the music all the time, as we had a wide range of religious beliefs as patients,” Nancy Kordus, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “She told me ‘You have to plant the seeds’ and the music had to be played 24/7 even if no one was in the building ‘to keep the demons out.’”

But music wasn’t the only religious element in Marshall’s practice. Marshall would allegedly pray over her patients, and she hung religious images on the wall, put holy water at the front desk and even kept a diary of religious activities that took place in the office.

Marshall also held prayers with staff at the start of each day. The lawsuits says these were initially optional but eventually became required.

None of this sat well with many of Marshall’s employees, some of whom had worked for another dentist who previously owned the practice. Kordus and another employee who complained about the music and resisted the pressure to participate in religious activities were fired in 2014. They were replaced with less-experienced hygienists.

That’s when the trouble really started. Marshall said she brought in Stasio to help her “restructure” her business because she needed more skilled employees.

“That’s when I was like ‘This isn’t working; Craig, can you help me?’ and it worked out great,” Marshall said.

“Great” is a relative term here. Stasio was given total control over personnel, according to the lawsuit, and he fired other employees who had no interest in his ministry. As a result of this shakeup, almost all of Marshall’s old staff was either dismissed or transferred elsewhere. Just one hygienist remains.

Despite the allegations in the lawsuit, Marshall claims her staff chose to leave.

“My old staff was great,” Marshall said. “I wish they would have stayed and liked the music, but it was their choice.”

The accusations of religion-based discrimination are bad enough, but there may be something far more disturbing playing out in the Detroit suburbs. Several area parents have said that after their daughters met Stasio, they chose to drop out of college, move in with employees at Stasio’s practice and cut off almost all communication with their families. Parents told WJBK-TV in Detroit that their daughters have referred to Stasio as “the prophet.”

And that’s not all. Another WJBK report said Stasio has allegedly recruited owners of various local businesses in a possible attempt to target teenagers for proselytism. One of Stasio’s followers owns a laser tag business. One laser tag patron, identified only as “Steve,” said Christian music was played during an all-night lock-in for kids at the facility.

“It was really weird,” said Steve, whose 14-year-old nephew attended the party. “They were playing Christian music – and it wasn’t Christian rock it was ‘hallelujah praise Jesus’ music.”

Regardless of what Stasio may be up to, it is clear that the allegations against him and Marshall are serious. No business owner has a “religious freedom” right to force employees to follow any set of religious beliefs, then fire them when they refuse to go along. Let’s hope a judge yanks Marshall’s religion-based discrimination sooner rather than later.