The company that the new job is with requires that everyone attend a scheduled quarterly meeting on a Saturday. If anyone doesn't show up for the meeting, money with be deducted from their paychecks. So my husband went to the meeting.

Little did he know that they would start this meeting with a group prayer. My husband said he felt so uncomfortable in this situation; it felt inappropriate. He felt forced to be there because of the threat that money would be taken out of his check if he didn't attend.

Neither one of us has a problem with someone praying on an individual basis, it's the group thing, as well as basically feeling forced to be there that has us both bothered.

Can this be legal? I am the worst at searching for info on the internet. And since there are alot of knowledgeable people on dailykos I am seeking some info to find out what we can do. My husband doesn't want to go to the next meeting in three months, but he will be penalized if he doesn't. He is concerned if he tells the company that he is uncomfortable with group prayer he will be fired. What can we do?

And please note that this diary is not intended to offend anyone who prays. The issues are prayer groups at the workplace, and being forced to attend.

Update: Thank you all for the advice and for putting my diary on the recommend list. I have to sign-off for a while, but I will be back to check all your comments.

Update 2: Wow! I am trying to keep up with reading everyone's comments, and thank you for responding. I wanted to mention that my husband did ask me to post this diary. He is not a kossack like me, and he wasn't sure what to do about the situation at work and quite frankly neither was I. Thank you all again. And most likely he will just grin and bear it and maybe when I am done getting my degree he can quit. Peace.