Attorneys with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a news release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-22-10.cfm that a Houston area construction company will pay $122,500 and provide additional remedial relief to resolve an employment discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of fourteen company employees.  According to the April 22, 2010 news release, EEOC attorneys charged in the lawsuit that a supervisor of an employee of Islamic faith and East Indian descent referred to the employee as “terrorist,” “Taliban,” “Osama,” and “Al-Qaeda.”  The EEOC alleged further that the same supervisor, as well as others in company management, regularly referred to African Americans as “n—–s” and to Hispanics as “f—–g Mexicans.”  An EEOC attorney quoted in the news release stated, in part, that “Employees have an absolute right to be free from discriminatory harassment in the workplace.”

In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination, and EEOC attorneys filed the race, religious and national origin discrimination lawsuit in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.  Further information about the EEOC and the laws it enforces is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether employment related harassment based on race, religion or national origin discrimination occurs in Houston or elsewhere, victims of discriminatory workplace practices may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential unlawful harassment claim.

Religious discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees as long as no undue hardship is posed against the business.  In this regard, the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-30-10.cfm that agency attorneys filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against a home improvement company, alleging that the business violated federal law by requiring an employee to work on his Sabbath and by harassing and retaliating against the employee, causing him to lose hours.  According to the EEOC’s March 30, 2010 press release, the lawsuit charges that the company refused to accommodate a current employee’s sincere religious belief as a Baptist against working on the Sabbath, Sunday.  As stated in the press release, EEOC attorneys contend in the case that the employee’s written requests for religious accommodation were ignored for two months and then denied because the company asserted that it might create a hardship on other employees who might like to have Sundays off.  EEOC attorneys filed the suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement. 

The EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC and the federal laws enforced by the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether religion based employment discrimination occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a religious discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.

In a press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-17-10.cfm , the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that Administaff, Inc., a nationwide company which provides full service human resources to small and medium-size businesses, will pay $115,000 and furnish substantial remedial relief to settle a religion harassment lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys in Maryland.  According to the March 17, 2010 press release, EEOC attorneys charged that the Kingwood, Texas company and Conn-X, LLC violated federal law by engaging in religious discrimination against employees at Conn-X’s Engelwood, Maryland office.  As stated in the press release, EEOC attorneys claimed in the harassment case that two brothers were called “dirty Jew,” “dumb Jew,” and other anti-Semitic slurs by managers and coworkers because of their religion, Judaism.  The harassment allegedly included the defacing of one brother’s vehicle with a swastika symbol.   In addition, the EEOC said the same brother was forced into a trash bin for the amusement of managers who observed them on a work surveillance camera and called it “throw the Jew in the dumpster.”  The EEOC’s lawsuit against Conn-X, LLC, a Florida-based cable service provider, remains unresolved, the EEOC said. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious harassment.  EEOC attorneys filed the harassment lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace religious harassment.  Religious discrimination charge filings nationwide with the EEOC have increased substantially over the years.  In Fiscal Year 2009, the EEOC received a record high level of 3,386 religious discrimination charges - nearly double the number of religious discrimination charges since Fiscal Year 1992.

Whether anti-Semitic Judaism religious harassment occurs at workplaces in Conroe, Kingwood, Houston or elsewhere, victims of employment related religious bias may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential religious discrimination claim.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace religious discrimination.  In this regard, an EEOC press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-10-10a.cfm states that a contract security company has been sued by the federal agency for alleged unlawful discrimination against an employee because of her religion.  According to the press release, EEOC attorneys charge in the case that the company violated federal law by firing the employee from a client location rather than accommodating her beliefs as a Mennonite Baptist that she cover her hair with a scarf.  As further stated in the press release, EEOC attorneys contend that the employee was fired when the company insisted, as a condition of her continued employment, that she remove and refrain from wearing her head scarf on the job.  In this regard, the lawsuit contends that the employee attempted to explain that her religion required her to wear the scarf, but the company refused to accommodate her and terminated her.

Such alleged misconduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees’ and applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs as long as this does not pose an undue hardship on the business.  For further information about the EEOC and the federal laws it enforces, see www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether unlawful religion based employment discrimination occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a religious discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appopriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential religious discrimination claim.

In a January 29, 2010 press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/12-18-09.cfm , the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that an assisted living company will pay $43,000 and furnish other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the federal agency.  According to the press release, EEOC attorneys charged in the employment discrimination case that the company discriminated against a female housekeeper by firing her rather than accommodating her religious belief that she wear a Muslim head scarf or hijab outside her home.  As further stated in the press release, the company insisted that, as a condition of her continued employment, the housekeeper remove and refrain from wearing her Muslim head scarf on the job.  Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires that employers make an effort to accommodate employees’ and applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs.  For its own part, the company denied any liability or wrongdoing.

The EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace religious discrimination.  Additional information about the EEOC and the federal laws it enforces is available at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether employment related religious discrimination against Muslims occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a religion based employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential Muslim employment discrimination case.

In a press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/2-11-10.cfm , lawyers with the the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced filing of a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against a construction company.  According to the February 11, 2010 press release, EEOC lawyers charge in the employment discrimination lawsuit that the construction company violated federal law by denying religious accommodation to several of its employees and later firing them because of their religion.  As stated more specifically in the EEOC press release, three day laborers with the company are members of the Seventh Day Adventist faith and they all hold the sincere religious belief, based on the tenets of their faith, that they cannot work on their Sabbath, which runs from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday.  EEOC lawyers claim in the case that the workers were discharged when they refused to work on their Sabbath and the company knew that these workers’ objections to working on the Sabbath was based on their religion.

In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious discrimination.  For its own part, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.  EEOC lawyers filed the religion discrimination lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.  An EEOC lawyer quoted in the press release stated, in part, that “Employers need to ensure that their supervisors and managers who are called upon to make decisions on employees’ requests for religious accommodation are fully knowledgeable of the employer’s obligation under Title VII.” 

Whether religion based employment discrimination occurs in Conroe, Houston, Texas City or elsewhere, victims of religious discrimination may contact the EEOC or a lawyer to determine if a religious discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.

Religious harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious harassment in the workplace.  In this regard, EEOC lawyers announced in a Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/11-2-09a.cfm that the EEOC has filed a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against a staffing company which provides cable service in the Baltimore metropolitan area.  According to the November 2, 2009 Press Release, EEOC lawyers contend in the lawsuit that a Florida company and a Texas company subjected two employees to physical and verbal harassment because of their religion, Judaism.  As further stated in the Press Release, EEOC lawyers assert that beginning in September 2005 and continuing throughout their employment, both employees were called “Dirty Jew,” “Dumb Jew,” and other anti-Semitic slurs against Jews by managers and coworkers.  Moreover, the religious harassment continued for a couple of years, the EEOC said, and included the defacing of one employee’s work vehicle with a swastika symbol and physical harassment in which the employee was allegedly forced into a trash bin for the amusement of managers who observed them on a work surveillance camera and called it “throw the Jew in the dumpster.”  An EEOC lawyer was quoted in the Press Release as saying “Employers must take steps to prevent religious harassment of their employees [and] we brought this lawsuit to remind employers of their legal responsibility to prevent and promptly correct this type of conduct.” 

Religious discrimination charge filings with the EEOC nationwide totaled 3,273 in Fiscal Year 2008, up 11.4 percent from the prior year and the highest level in the past decade.  Further information about the EEOC and the laws it enforces can be found at www.eeoc.gov .   

Whether a hostile work environment based on religious harassment occurs in Texas or elsewhere, victims of workplace religious harassment may contact the EEOC and a lawyer to determine if a religious discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential employment discrimination claim.

Attorneys with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/10-16-09b.html that an equipment rental company will pay $64,641 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit in which EEOC attorneys alleged that a Muslim worker was discriminated against because of his Islamic faith.  According to the October 16, 2009 EEOC Press Release, agency attorneys charged in the case that the worker was subjected to derogatory comments and slurs based on his religion, Islam.  As stated in the Press Release, the comments included suggestions that the worker might be a terrorist because he is Muslim.  In the lawsuit, the EEOC claimed that the worker was subjected to an anti-Muslim cartoon.  The employment discrimination lawsuit settled just a few days before it was scheduled to go to trial.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against employees on the basis of religion, and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  In an October 6, 2009 EEOC Press Release found at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/10-6-09.html , the agency announced that its attorneys filed a lawsuit against a Yuma, Arizona hotel, alleging that the hotel unlawfully permitted a manager to impose his personal religious beliefs on other employees and failed to accommodate those employees who did not desire to participate.  According to the Press Release, EEOC attorneys charge that the company threatened employees with reprisals or otherwise forced them to engage in a particular religious prayer ceremony in spite of their personal different religious views.  As stated in the Press Release, the unlawful discrimination created a hostile work environment and denied employees reasonable accommodation for their religious beliefs.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release stated, in part, that employees should not be subjected unwillingly to a supervisor’s religious views and should not be subjected to forced prayer sessions.  Another EEOC representative commented that “Employee freedom of and from religion must be protected.”  EEOC attorneys filed the religious discrimination lawsuit in Arizona after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement.  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a September 25, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-25-09e.html that agency attorneys filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against a Fort Worth CD and DVD manufacturer alleging that the company failed to accommodate an employee’s schedule so that she could observe her Sabbath and then fired her.  According to the EEOC Press Release, the discrimination lawsuit contends that the company initially allowed the employee, who is a member of the Soldiers of the Cross of Christ Church,  to work Sunday through Thursday - which accommodated her Sabbath observance from sundown Friday through sundown Saturday.  However, the company changed the work requirements and would no longer allow her to work that schedule, as stated in the Press Release.  EEOC attorneys charge in the case that when she asked for an alternate schedule, she was allegedly told by Human Resources that if the company accommodated her, they would have to accommodate “every Christian,” and she was then fired. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ and applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs as long as this does not pose an undue hardship.  An EEOC trial attorney quoted in the Press Release said, in part, that “This devout woman, who is also a missionary, should not have been put in the harsh position of having to forsake her religious beliefs for a schedule change.”  EEOC attorneys filed the religious discrimination lawsuit in North Texas after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.

Whether religious discrimination related to employment occurs in Dallas, Fort Worth or elsewhere in Texas, victims of religious discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a religion discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.