A suburban Chicago woman says Office Depot discriminated against her Roman Catholic faith, charging staffers refused to run copies of an anti-abortion prayer because it violated company policy.
Maria Goldstein, 42, asked the Office Depot in Schaumburg, Ill., to make 500 copies of "A Prayer for Planned Parenthood" to distribute at her parish last month, the
Chicago Tribune reports.
The handout also included statistics about abortion in the United States and at Planned Parenthood.
The prayer calls on God to "Bring an end to the killing of children in the womb, and bring an end to the sale of their body parts. Bring conversion to all who do this, and enlightenment to all who advocate it," the Tribune reports.
It also decries "the evil that has been exposed in Planned Parenthood and in the entire abortion industry."
By refusing to copy the material for her, Office Depot "is trying to silence my freedom of speech and my freedom of religion," she tells
The Daily Caller.
Company lawyer Robert Amicone, in a letter obtained by The Daily Caller, countered the refusal had nothing to do with Goldstein's religious beliefs, and was based on certain language that violated Office Depot's standards.
Office Depot Response
But on Friday, the company relented.
"We sincerely apologize to Ms. (Maria) Goldstein for her experience and our initial reaction was not at all related to her religious beliefs," Roland Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Office Depot, said in a statement, the
Chicago Tribune reports.
"We invite her to return to Office Depot if she still wishes to print the flyer."
Goldstein, however, said she didn't know how she'd respond.
"I need to take a step back and pray about it," she tells the Tribune.
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