Plastics worker fired for refusing 666 sticker?

Here's one of those off-beat stories that some readers love: A plastics worker in Georgia claims he was fired for refusing to wear a sticker with the number "666."

Now Billy E. Hyatt is suing his former employer, Berry Plastics Corp., for retaliation and religious discrimination.

The case was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Rome, Ga.

Hyatt worked at a Pliant Corp. plant as an extrusion line operator from 2007-2010. (Berry purchased Pliant in 2010).

According to the complaint, employees at the plant were directed each day to write the number of days that the plant was accident-free on a sticker, and wear the sticker throughout their shift.

In March 2010, the plant went 666 days without an accident, but Hyatt refused to wear a sticker with that number.

"Plaintiff's sincere religious belief as a Christian is that he should not wear any depiction of the number '666' as this number is a representation of Satan and/or that this number is the 'sign of the beast,'" the complaint says. "Plaintiff['s] sincere religious belief is that to wear the number 666 would be to accept the mark of the beast and to be condemned to hell."

According to the complaint, Hyatt's supervisor told him that his beliefs were ridiculous, and that he could go to work with the 666 sticker or face a 3-day suspension.

Hyatt accepted the suspension, but he was fired less than a week later, according to the complaint.

The story is getting some attention today, after Courthouse News Service did a report on the lawsuit that was picked up by the Associated Press.