An Indianapolis employee applied for company support of a new interdenominational Christian employee group. The employer refused, pointing to its guidelines for groups, which specifically exclude any that "promote or advocate particular religious or political positions." Charging that the policy discriminated against his religion, the employee sued.

What happened. John Moranski, who terms himself a born-again Christian, is a desktop computing architect for General Motors's Allison Transmission plant. In 1999, GM established what is now called an Affinity Group program. The initiative had several goals, including supporting diverse employees, improving performance, and better serving diverse market segments. Furthermore, the guidelines described eligible groups as being "typically created around an aspect of common social identity that influences how others see them at GM." And religious or political groups weren't the only ones that GM refused to support: It also rejected groups organized only around a common interest, such as golf or theater.

Moranski sued anyway, asserting that the GM policy discriminated against religion by favoring employees without religious faith and that other groups protected by federal civil rights law were allowed to form company-sponsored groups. A federal district judge heard his suit and dismissed it. Moranski appealed to the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

What the court said. Appellate judges thoroughly agreed with the lower court's dismissal. As the judge who wrote the opinion put it, "General Motors's Affinity Group policy treats all religious positions alike--­it excludes them all from serving as the basis of a company-recognized Affinity Group." That exclusion covered any potential agnostic or atheist group. There are currently nine groups with official support from GM, which includes use of GM facilities and equipment, as well as funding for their missions. The groups are for women, African Americans, people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, Hispanics, Asian Indians, Chinese, Mideast and Southeast Asian employees, and veterans. Moranski v. General Motors Corp., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, No. 05-1803 (12/29/05).

Point to remember: GM's guidelines are sufficiently well crafted that they protected the company's strategy in court. But judges for the 7th Circuit acknowledged that offering support for religious groups is a growing trend, especially among such large employers as Intel and Texas Instruments.