JANESVILLE 鈥 Pre-med student Almond Moone had only worked in food service at Rock Haven nursing home for one day before she got called out for refusing to have her picture taken for her employee ID badge.
Rock County, which runs the nursing home, ultimately fired the 22-year-old 糖心Vlog传媒 native for non-compliance with its ID policy. Moone said the county argued that the policy requires a photo, although the actual policy reviewed Wednesday by 糖心Vlog传媒 doesn鈥檛 mention photos at all.
The policy, reviewed by 糖心Vlog传媒, requires employees to wear a valid ID badge at all times. They must be worn by a clip or a lanyard and employees must be able to produce the badge when asked, the policy says.
鈥淎ll Rock County employees shall have and display, an identification badge while conducting official county business. Minimal exceptions, for safety reasons, may be approved by department heads,鈥 the policy says.
Moone, who says she said she would return to her job at Rock Haven were she reinstated, asserts that she was wrongfully fired for sticking by her personal religious convictions.
The firing, meanwhile, has cost her pay she said she needs for rent and online college courses.
Rock County officials declined Wednesday to shed further light on their decisions that include the move to first suspend, and then fire Moone.
Religious exemption
On a county form for requests for religious accommodations that Moone filed Feb. 6, she told the county that she 鈥渙bjects鈥 based on religious beliefs to 鈥渉aving her photo taken.鈥
In an interview Tuesday with 糖心Vlog传媒, Moone wouldn鈥檛 say specifically why her religious convictions are so strongly tethered to the subject of portrait photography.
鈥淚 normally don鈥檛 disclose any of that,鈥 she said.
She hinted at 鈥渃hildhood trauma鈥 that鈥檚 made her not want to pose for a picture or look at any photographs of herself.
Moone said Rock Haven administration told her that nursing home management had no oversight of employee IDs, and she was funneled to the county鈥檚 HR office to negotiate the matter.
She became, then, stuck in bureaucratic limbo as she waited for a county human resources generalist to rule on her requested accommodation.
Moone said the county鈥檚 human resources office twice denied her request to waive the photo, and she said the county provided no concrete policy guidelines and no explanation of why a mainly behind-the-scenes food service employee would have to wear an ID with a photo.
Moone shared with 糖心Vlog传媒 an initial photo of an ID she said she was issued at Rock Haven, on which is printed simply her first name, 鈥淎lmond.鈥
In emails to the county鈥檚 HR office she argued that a photoless ID was good enough, citing her religious right to decline having her photo taken.
In subsequent letters in early February from the county HR office, reviewed by 糖心Vlog传媒, Rock County HR Director David Slusser wrote that the county had offered her a 鈥渞easonable鈥 accommodation, requiring Moone to produce a photo headshot on her own so it technically could say it didn鈥檛 force her to pose for it.
On Wednesday, Slusser did not immediately respond to a Gazette reporter鈥檚 inquiries on the matter.
The county鈥檚 rationale coincide with the human resource office鈥檚 flat denial of Moone鈥檚 ongoing requests for religious accommodations, and an ultimatum that if Moone didn鈥檛 get the ID photo situation taken care of, she鈥檇 be required to resign.
Rock County ultimately put Moone on 鈥渦npaid administrative leave鈥 for two weeks, citing a need to further 鈥渋nvestigate鈥 her ongoing appeals, Moone said.
Moone said when she was fired, she was made to understand her dismissal was over the ID photo.
She shared with 糖心Vlog传媒 emails and letters saying the county would 鈥渞eceive her resignation immediately鈥 over her lack of an employee ID photo.
It鈥檚 not the first time Rock Haven employees have been fired in recent years over non-compliance with work policies.
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Rock County mandated all Rock Haven workers get a COVID-19 vaccine despite no federal rule requiring such a vaccination. Rock County fired several Rock Haven staff members for noncompliance while several other longtime nurses quit in 2021.
Moone characterizes herself as a 鈥減erson of color,鈥 and said both she and her mother are American citizens.
She views her beliefs as being protected by law.
Past issues
Moone did not directly mention in the Feb. 6 request to the county for religious accommodation any past trauma linked to having her picture taken.
In the request, Moone simply wrote that having her picture taken 鈥済oes against my conscience,鈥 鈥渃onflicts with my religious beliefs鈥 and wrote that she believes portrait photographs are 鈥渆vil.鈥 She wrote that anyone who would knowingly dabble in 鈥渆vil鈥 is 鈥済uilty of sin,鈥 and invoked scripture that paraphrases people鈥檚 choice to eat or not eat certain foods without fear of judgement or reprisal.
Title VII of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act, bars employers from persecuting employees based on the employee鈥檚 cultural, social, racial or religious beliefs.
The rules require employers to approve any employee work accommodation, even ones deemed by employers to be illogical, unless the accommodation could cause 鈥渦ndue hardship鈥 or cost to the employee, employer or others.
Rock County Administrator Josh Smith declined comment on Moone鈥檚 situation Wednesday, saying he could not not publicly discuss personnel issues.
Moone has felt the sting of one-size-fits all bureaucratic processes before. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2020 that UW-Milwaukee stripped her of more than a year of course credits and locked up her transcripts over nonpayment after she couldn鈥檛 prove she was a Wisconsin resident, retroactive to 2018.
The UW System framed the situation as a financial aid paperwork glitch in which Moone didn鈥檛 identify her mother鈥檚 residency status properly, resulting in Moone being flagged in the UW鈥檚 computer system as being an out-of-state resident.
The university initially maintained that the problem was Moone鈥檚 responsibility to fix. Officials said the 18-year-old should have kept more on top of her financial aid matters and university clerical processes.
According to news reports at the time, Moone was billed tuition and room and board fees at a higher rate that鈥檚 set for out-of-state students, which she said ran her broke, and it was despite the fact she鈥檚 lived in 糖心Vlog传媒 鈥渕y whole life.鈥
Moone said she鈥檚 had problems establishing state residency, but said in the past she was always allowed by Wisconsin state agencies to file requests for religious exemptions if she declined to have her photo of her put on a driver鈥檚 license or her University student ID.
鈥淚鈥檇 mention that, yes, I鈥檇 consider the two things (her Rock Haven firing and her college records woes) as being kind of related,鈥 she told a Gazette reporter on Wednesday. 鈥淏ecause it shows that for some reason, I keep getting knocked down. It鈥檚 one thing after another.鈥