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A company will reportedly pay $42,500 and other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit that the EEOC filed alleging that the company refused to accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs and subsequently fired the employee for his religious beliefs for refusing to work on a Saturday. Cole’s religious beliefs mandated that he not work on Saturdays in observance of the Sabbath, and the company was typically closed on Saturdays, with only limited exceptions. The company requested that Cole work on a Saturday. Cole told the company that he could not work on Saturdays because of his religious beliefs, and the company fired Cole for refusing to work that Saturday. An employer cannot fire an employee for their sincerely-held religious beliefs pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII requires employers to provide employees with reasonable accommodations for their sincerely held religious beliefs unless the accommodations would create an undue hardship. See EEOC v. Greenville Ready Mix Concrete, Inc., No. 4:16-cv-00094 (E.D.N.C.).
National Tire and Battery has reportedly agreed to pay $22,500 to settle a national origin and religious discrimination lawsuit that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought on behalf of one of NTB’s former employees. The EEOC’s suit alleged that the employee was harassed by coworkers because of his religion and national origin by calling him “Taliban,” “al-Qaeda,” “bin Laden,” and “terrorist” and by accusing him of making bombs. The allegations also assert that the former employee constantly complained to management about the harassment, but nothing was done to stop it. National origin and religious discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. See EEOC and NTW, LLC , No. 15-cv-1681 (N.D. Ill.).
The EEOC won its employment discrimination lawsuit against Consolidation Coal Company and its parent CONSOL Energy, Inc. The employee worked in Defendants’ mine for over 35 years when a new hand-scanning method was installed to track when employees clocked in and out of work. The employee informed Defendants that using the hand-scanning technology would violate his sincerely held religious beliefs as an Evangelical Christian. In response, Defendants refused to offer any alternate means of tracking the employee’s attendance and time and told him that he would be disciplined and perhaps discharged if he did not use the hand-scanner. The employee was forced to retire. The jury found that Defendants had violated federal law by forcing a long-time employee to retire because they refused to accommodate his sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Court issued an order awarding $586,860 in lost wages, benefits, and injunctive relief. Defendants were also permanently enjoined from committing similar acts in the future in violation of Title VII. Employers must grant reasonable accommodations for employee religious beliefs that conflict with work requirements pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, unless the reasonable accommodation would create an undue hardship on the employer’s business.
A hotel group has agreed to pay $45,000 to settle a religious discrimination charge filed by the EEOC. The hotel group was charged with refusing to provide a religious accommodation for one of their employees who had requested to have all Sabbaths off from work. Initially the request was honored until a change in management took place, after which her requests for religious accommodation were ignored. She was then fired. In addition to providing monetary relief to the employee, the hotel group will implement policies designed to prevent religious discrimination and conduct training on anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination laws. The hotel group will also be required to report any future requests for accommodation to the EEOC. See EEOC v. Landmark Hotel Group, LLC, No. 4:12-cv-158 (E.D.N.C.).
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