# Brooklyn business faces discrimination trial for forcing employees to observe "Onionhead" religion. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699 "2016-10-05T13:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699/1 "2016-10-05T13:49:13Z")
[http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/onionhead-ruled-a-religion-in-syosset-discrimination-case-1.12405316](http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/onionhead-ruled-a-religion-in-syosset-discrimination-case-1.12405316) > [@](#): > > A Brooklyn federal judge has ruled that a Syosset health care business will have to face a discrimination trial for allegedly forcing workers to pray, chant and participate in spiritual interpersonal workshops known as “Onionhead” and “Harnessing Happiness.” > > U.S. District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto said the program — represented by a logo with an anthropomorphic onion — amounted to a religion, and United Health Programs of America had to face charges from 10 workers that they were fired for failing to go along. Onionhead? This sounds like something from the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699/2 "2016-10-05T17:31:38Z")
Health care business? Or MLM scam? All I know is that while I was laid off, I was desperate enough to attend some meetings for a couple of these groups, thinking that I would be selling stuff or making presentations to sell stuff. Both places spent about an hour every morning with “staff meetings” which were really just videos and spoken propaganda about how great the company was, and what geniuses the founders of the companies were, and “inspirational” crap about butterflies on the other side of the world flapping their wings and causing all sorts of changes on our side of the world, and garbage like that. I stuck around for a little while, wondering if we would actually do anything resembling making money, but no. Sounds like that’s what this was. One of the companies I went to had a rhino as their mascot, because “Rhinos can never turn around once they’re running.” Sounds like rhino shit to me. Not sure why an onion would be inspiring. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699/3 "2016-10-05T17:33:46Z")
Because. Umm. Layers! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699/4 "2016-10-05T17:44:20Z")
The article in the OP requires a subscription to read the whole article. Here’s an article from CBS News with a little more info: [https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/cult-like-onionhead-program-on-long-island-forced-to-trial/?client=lightning](https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/cult-like-onionhead-program-on-long-island-forced-to-trial/?client=lightning) ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brooklyn-business-faces-discrimination-trial-for-forcing-employees-to-observe-onionhead-religion/767699/5 "2016-10-05T18:33:01Z")
Just to clarify, the thread title is wrong. The federal court is in Brooklyn, the company is in Syosset in eastern Nassau County, 2 counties over from Brooklyn. Is there a word for being a geographic pedant?