Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Montana

Re: Religious solicitation

It's not clear from your question whether the customer is "soliciting", but that doesn't really matter because businesses are generally free to ban whoever they want for any non-discriminatory reason. You are allowed to prevent outsiders from having unwelcome conversations with your employees while they do their jobs; the religious nature of these conversations is beside the point.

The First Amendment prevents the government from discriminating on the basis of religion, but it generally does not have such an effect on private entities. Businesses which are public accommodations are forbidden to discriminate on the basis of religion, race, etc., but even if yours is such a business I don't think you need to worry here.

If this gentleman's actions are disturbing your employees you have every right to insist that he stop and to bar him from the premises if he doesn't. Even if your business is bound by the First Amendment, the fact that he is trying to win religious converts does not make such a decision illegal discrimination, since it is based upon his conduct and not upon his beliefs. It sounds like you don't mind having him around when he isn't proselytizing, so you would not be discriminating against his faith if you simply told him that he could no longer seek converts on your premises.

Three caveats: First, this answer presumes that you have the authority to make this type of decision where you work. Second, it also presumes that you work for a private company. The same result would probably hold for a governmental entity but the analysis would be less straightforward. Finally, even if your position is legally sound the man could bring a lawsuit; even a suit your company should win may be more trouble than it's worth.