Claim: The Hobby Lobby chain fired an employee for divorcing her husband without company approval.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, April 2014]
Hobby Lobby Fires Employee For Divorcing Husband?
Real or False?
Origins: On 7 April 2014, the Daily Currant published an article positing that the Hobby Lobby chain of retail craft stores had fired an employee for divorcing her husband without company approval:
33-year old Jennifer Silverton of Scottsdale, Ariz., spent seven years as a cashier at the arts and crafts retail giant and was promoted to assistant manager just two weeks ago. However, her employment was abruptly terminated for reasons of "moral laxity" after upper management learned she had divorced her husband two months ago after six years of marriage.
Hobby Lobby fired an employee yesterday for divorcing her husband without company approval.
By the end of the day links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered it mistaking it for a genuine news item. However, the article was just a bit of political humor from the Daily Currant which spoofed the Hobby Lobby's challenge to the federal mandate requiring them to provide health insurance with contraceptive coverage female employees, on the grounds that doing so would violate the company's closely held Christian beliefs.
As noted in the Daily Currant's "About" page, that web site deals strictly in satire:
Q. Are your news stories real? A. No. Our stories are purely fictional. However they are meant to address real-world issues through satire and often refer and link to real events happening in the world.
The Daily Currant is an English language online satirical newspaper that covers global politics, business, technology, entertainment, science, health and media.
Last updated: 12 April 2014