The case of the religious network group

GenCorp, a Connecticut-based paper-goods manufacturer, has long supported e mployee-organized network groups. Its social support group for African-Amer icans, in fact, has been a particular success, having provided black employ ees with opportunities To further enhance their careers and helped the comp any retain top talent, meet its EEO goals, and gain favorable publicity. So when Alice Lawrence, a top accountant at GenCorp, called general manager Bill Thompson about the Christian network group being organized in one of the company's southern plants, Bill hardly flinched. After all, the Christi an group was being organized by Russell Kramer, one of the company's most e ffective plant managers. What could be the problem there! But a couple of y ears ago, Alice noted, Russell had sent around a companywide letter that ta lked about the sinful nature of homosexuality. And that letter has made her and other gay and lesbian employees terribly uneasy. To complicate matters, the issue of "Christian rights" in the workplace was being widely discussed on radio talk shows, and several books on the topic had recently been published. An employee had even called the new region's head of human resources to get clarification on the topic. Up until now, GenCorp hadn't placed a lot of restrictions on network groups . But the emergence of a religious group was raising new questions for GenC orp's managers: Should the company accept religious groups or try to stop t hem! What policy, if any, should GenCorp adopt toward these network groups! Five experts comment on this fictional case study.