Columbus, USA - Workers in the Ohio Department of Taxation have been told to stop attaching religious postscripts and other messages to their e-mails.
Internal audit administrator William Cort notified employees that workers who attach Bible verses or other sayings at the bottom of their e-mails could be disciplined.
Employees ignored earlier requests to stop, so Cort issued a more severe warning last month, department spokesman Gary Gudmundson said. Cort had received about half-dozen complaints from agency staff about the messages.
"There is a continuing trend to voice personal views as part of a salutation immediately before or after the sender's name," Cort wrote in a message to department employees. Cort went on to explain that a business environment is not the place for proverbs, personal advice or religious references.
Cort found several e-mail sign-offs he found inappropriate. One tax commissioner agent ended an e-mail with "Deuteronomy 30:15-19 Choose Life."
Another employee's e-mail offered these words: "May God continue to bless you and keep you from all hurt, harm and danger. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen."