LAKELAND -- A Hillsborough County woman filed a religious discrimination lawsuit last week against the Lakeland company she left in June, claiming that her former bosses pressured employees to become Baptist and frowned on those who didn't get right with God.

Jeri Blanton claimed that, beginning in 2001, senior company officials with Bunch & Associates made religion a central part of the company's mission and a measuring stick for employees.

She is seeking reinstatement, damages and back pay, recognition that Bunch & Associates' policies violate federal law, and a court order barring the company from continuing what she alleges are discriminatory practices.

Blanton's complaint says that company founder and President Cynthia Bunch, CEO Leif Goodson and COO Charles Funk targeted her for complaining about the company's religiously oriented policies.

Though she had been Bunch & Associates' director of nursing since 2000, Blanton claimed she was passed over for promotion in October 2002, when all her peers were made vice presidents. Unlike them, Blanton claimed, she had objected to the company's religious policies. Though she is a Christian, Blanton said she is not a Baptist. In July, Blanton filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, which elected not to investigate. The agency sent a letter in February giving her permission to sue. She filed suit in federal court Monday.

Founded in 1988, Bunch & Associates manages companies' disability plans. The company, with headquarters on Winter Lake Road, has offices in five states and employs about 300 people. Clients include grocery chains Food Lion, Winn-Dixie and Kash-n-Karry, discount chain Costco Wholesale and Aramark, the food service and facilities management company.

According to its Web site, Bunch & Associates promises "timely, personal, proactive service" to its clients, competitive salaries and a professional work environment.

But the place portrayed in Blanton's complaint seems more like a ministry.

According to the complaint:

Bunch & Associates gave employees laminated cards describing the company's values. Among the values listed on the "commitment proclamation" was "faith."

Employees were asked to pledge "to secure belief in God's authority and trusting acceptance of His will for our lives." Managers were told to have their staff adhere to the company's stated values.

Goodson, the chief operating officer, had stated openly that he was "on a mission from God at Bunch & Associates." He brought in Bibles for employees he was trying to save and had numerous religious discussions at work with those employees.

Employees whom senior company officials thought needed saving were given preferential treatment. Goodson and Bunch made one such employee, who was an atheist, a supervisor. They told Blanton that God had led the employee to work there and had been hired so he could be saved.

Blanton was not allowed to counsel or discipline an employee she supervised because Bunch and Goodson were trying to mold the employee's views.

Two of Bunch's nurses complained to her in May 2003 about phone calls they received from Bunch. The owner told the nurses she had been sitting in her "prayer chair" and was concerned about questions they had raised during a meeting about a change in company policy.

Bunch told one of the nurses her behavior was not that of "a Godly role model."

"This is not a case where you have a co-worker talking about their religion over and over," said Catherine Kyres, the Tampa lawyer who represents Blanton. "This is the heads of the company. You can't run a company like your church."

Bunch referred a call seeking comment for this story to Lakeland lawyer Amanda Jarrett, who represents Bunch & Associates.

Jarrett said she had not seen Blanton's lawsuit, but was familiar with her allegations, which the lawyer said were without merit.

"We deny the allegations," Jarrett said.

Jarrett said she was not aware of other employees making complaints similar to Blanton's or suing the company for religious discrimination. A check of federal court records confirmed that Blanton's was the first discrimination lawsuit filed against Bunch & Associates.

Legal experts say the type of religious discrimination Blanton is claiming is unusual. Most people who sue employers for religious discrimination are seeking a "reasonable accommodation" of their faith, such as a Jewish person who doesn't want to work Saturdays or a Muslim who wants to pray during the workday.

Cases such as Blanton's aren't unheard of, however.

In February, current and former Salvation Army employees sued the organization, claiming it was discriminating against employees who provide social services to children in New York state. The lawsuit targeted a policy requiring employees to preach the Gospel, identify their church affiliations for the past 10 years and authorize their religious leaders to reveal private information to the Salvation Army.

The Supreme Court has recognized that employers affiliated with religious organizations, such as the Salvation Army, are exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination by employers. Government agencies and private companies, such as Bunch & Associates, enjoy no such exemption.

"If they're not affiliated with a religious organization, then it's very unlikely that they can discriminate based on religion," said Patrick Shannon, associate dean at the University of Florida's Levin School of Law. "What it comes down to is whether or not the religious belief is a business necessity."

Aside from breaking the law, employers who try and force their religious beliefs on employees are simply wrong, Shannon said.

"The time to bring people to church is outside the business," he said. "You can't force people to attend church inside the boardroom."