The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including discrimination based on an individual’s religion.  In Fiscal Year 2008, religious discrimination charge filings with the EEOC and state/local agencies nationwide rose 14 percent to 3,273.

In an EEOC Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-23-09f.html , agency attorneys announced filing of a religious discrimination lawsuit against a Denton, Texas based company which operates a franchise in Bridgeport, Texas, charging that the company violated federal law by firing a product technician when he declined to participate in the company’s “Red Shirt Friday” dress code.  According to the EEOC Press Release, the dress code was a store practice intended to show support for the U. S. military; however, the employee was a Jehova’s Witness prohibited by his religion from expressing opinions about government matters, including military affairs.  As stated in the Press Release, the Jehova’s Witness employee sought to be excused from wearing the red shirt on Fridays, but was reprimanded and ultimately 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.  EEOC attorneys filed the religious discrimination lawsuit in Tyler, Texas after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.  An EEOC trial attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that “It is not an employer’s place to formulate its own interpretation of an employee’s religious belief and base its accommodation decision on misguided and uninformed conclusions about that employee’s religion.” 

Whether workplace religion discrimination occurs in Denton, Bridgeport, Tyler or elsewhere in Texas, vicitims of religious discrimination 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.  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) sued a national retail clothing company for allegedly discriminating against a 17-year-old Muslim by refusing to hire her because she wore a hijab, or head scarf, in observance of her sincerely held religious beliefs.  In a September 17, 2009 Press Release, the EEOC stated that the Muslim job applicant was interviewed at the company’s Tulsa, Oklahoma location and the company refused to hire her because she was wearing a head covering when she was interviewed and this violated the company’s “Look Policy,” which prohibited the wearing of head coverings.  According to the Press Release, she applied for a sales position.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-17-09b.html .  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, protects workers from discrimination based upon religion in hiring and in the terms and conditions of their employment.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .

In a September 14, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-14-09d.html , the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced that a hotel chain will pay $27,500.00 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by EEOC attorneys in a Tennessee federal court.  According to the Press Release, EEOC attorneys charged in the religious discrimination lawsuit that the company violated federal law by denying a religious accommodation to an employee at its Memphis hotel and fired her because of her religious beliefs.  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, the employee was a member of  Israel of God and her Sabbath is from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday evening.  Her religious beliefs prohibit her from working on her Sabbath, but the facility allegedly refused to allow her to take the time off, and then terminated her.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ or applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs as long as this does not pose an undue hardship.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious discrimination and retaliation for complaining about it.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release said “Employers must not force employees to choose between their religion and their job.”  The attorney added that “The EEOC remains committed to combating religious discrimination in the workplace.”  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a September 11, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-11-09c.html that the agency filed a federal lawsuit against an ambulance service company for allegedly firing an en emergency medical technician, who is a Jehova’s Witness, for refusing to participate in a Halloween carnival.  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ or applicants’ sincerely held religious beliefs as long as this does not pose an undue hardship.  EEOC attorneys charged in the religious discrimination lawsuit that the employee had informed the company that she did not celebrate holidays or participate in holiday celebrations because she is a Jehova’s Witness and when she declined to take part, the company fired her.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including discrimination based on sincerely held religious beliefs.  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

In an August 26, 2009 Press Release, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced that it filed a federal lawsuit against an automotive components company, alleging the company violated federal law by failing to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and by firing him because of his religion.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-26-09b.html .  According to the EEOC Press Release, the company allegedly refused to accommodate the employee’s religious beliefs and practices when the employee refused to submit to a random drug test involving saliva testing since he was a practicing member of the Santeria religion and the Santeria religion forbade him from submitting to such a test.   The EEOC contends as well that the employee did offer to undergo an alternative form of drug testing, but the company fired him.  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 attorney quoted in the Press Release said “In this case, the employer refused to provide a simple accommodation that would have enabled [the employee] to practice his religious belief and would have prevented this discrimination suit.”  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including work-related religion discrimination.  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 an August 7, 2009 Press Release that a New York partnership has agreed to settle a religious and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys on behalf of four public safety officers who alleged employment discrimination based upon their Rastafarian religion and Caribbean national origins, including Jamaican, Haitian and Trinidadian.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-7-09.html .  According to the EEOC Press Release, the company failed to grant the employees’ requests for religious accommodation to the company’s grooming policy, which provided that employees must not wear their hair outside their uniform hats.  As stated in the Press Release, the officers maintain long dreadlocks and short beards in line with their Rastafarian religious faith and three of the officers allegedly faced suspensions for violating the grooming policy.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release said that “Employers are obligated to explore how they may accommodate employees’ or applicants’ religious beliefs.”  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In an August 7, 2009 Press Release, the EEOC announced that a beauty salon company will pay $26, 250.00 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit in which EEOC attorneys alleged that the company refused to accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-7-09a.html .  According to the Press Release, a stylist held the religious belief that she could not work on Sunday.  When she informed her employer of her Sabbath Day religious belief and requested a Sabbath Day accommodation, the employer allegedly ignored her request and fired her from her job.  As stated in the Press Release, refusing to accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief, absent undue hardship on the employer, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In this regard, EEOC attorneys filed the religious discrimination lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that “Ignoring an employee’s request for religious accommodation doesn’t make it go away.”  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether employment related Sabbath Day religious discrimination occurs in Conroe, Freeport, Houston, or elsewhere, victims of workplace religious discrimination 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 Sabbath Day discrimination claim.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace 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.  In this regard, attorneys for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a July 20, 2009 EEOC Press Release that an elder care facility in White Hall, Arkansas will pay $24,000.00 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC in Arkansas.  According to the EEOC Press Release, EEOC attorneys charged that the elder care facility denied a religious accommodation to a certified nursing assistant and fired her because of her religious beliefs.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-20-09.html .  As stated in the Press Release, the certified nursing assistant, who had worked at the White Hall facility for over a year, is a Seventh Day Adventist, and her Sabbath is from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday evening.  Her religious beliefs prohibit her from working on her Sabbath.  After accommodating her for over a year, the facility suddenly refused to allow the employee to take off on her Sabbath and then terminated her employment, according to the Press Release.  An EEOC attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying that “An employee should not be forced to choose between her religion and her job [and] this case demonstrates the EEOC’s commitment to combat religious discrimination in the workplace.”  

Over the past decade, religion-based charge filings with EEOC offices nationwide have almost doubled, from 1,786 in Fiscal Year 1998 to 3,273 in Fiscal Year 2008.  In this regard, further information about the EEOC and religion discrimination may be found at www.eeoc.gov . 

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

Officials in the east Texas town of Paris said Thursday they are preparing for an influx of black separatists and white supremacists at a planned protest next week over the death of a black man who was run over by a truck and dragged. The Lamar County Commissioner’s Court has created designated zones for protesters to help police maintain order Tuesday, the day a rally organized by the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party is scheduled outside the county courthouse.

The protest is the third related to the death of 24-year-old Brandon McClelland, whose mangled body was found Sept. 16 on a country road outside Paris, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas. Authorities estimated McClelland’s body had been dragged more than 70 feet beneath a vehicle.

Two white men, Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley, were charged with murdering McClelland by running him down in Finley’s pickup after the three friends made a late-night beer run from their dry town across state lines to Oklahoma. But a special prosecutor dismissed the charges last month, citing a lack of evidence, and the men were released after more than eight months in jail.

The previous protests by the Panthers and the Nation of Islam were mostly peaceful and resulted in no arrests. But authorities said there were hints of white supremacist groups showing up this time.

“We have some very specific intel that there would be some counter-protestors — white supremacists, KKK, skinheads — who wish to attend,” said Bill Harris, the first assistant county and district attorney for Lamar County.

At the November and June protests, there were a handful of white supremacists led by Rock Banks, a self-professed grand titan of the East Texas Ku Klux Klan. Words flew in June when Banks waded into the crowd holding aloft a patch depicting a Nazi-era Iron Cross. The KKK, the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party are considered hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The racial implications of the McClelland case have reminded some of the murder of James Byrd, a black man who was chained by the ankles to a pickup by three white men and dragged to death in 1998 in the east Texas town of Jasper.

Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville said the protest zones are designed to separate members of the Nation of Islam and the Panthers from white supremacists. Law enforcement officials requested the zones as a proactive step to avoid conflict.

Main Street, which runs along the east side of the courthouse, will serve as a dividing line, Superville said. He said he is trying to balance free speech rights with public safety concerns and the desire to keep open the courthouse. “We are going to preserve the peace,” the judge said. “This place is more like Mayberry than Jasper.” Brenda Cherry, a community activist in Paris who leads the Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality group, called the commissioners’ decision “racist and ignorant.”

“They are trying to stifle us and violate our constitutional rights,” she said.

Associated Press

Attorneys with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a June 22, 2009 EEOC Press Release that an operator of ski resorts in Vail and Keystone, Colorado will pay $80,000.00 and furnish other relief to settle a religious and gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.  According to the Press Release, the lawsuit charged that an emergency services supervisor was subjected to harassment based on her Christian religion and her sex, denied religious accommodation and treated less favorably than her male colleagues.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/6-22-09.html .  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, the employee’s supervisor allegedly forbade her and another Christian employee from even discussing their Christian beliefs with one another while at work, and would not allow them to listen to Christian music while on duty, because it might offend other employees, but had no similar restrictions on music with profanity or lyrics promoting violence against women, which were offensive to her.  In addition, the EEOC lawsuit claimed that she was ridiculed by her supervisor for asking for scheduling accommodation so that she could attend her preferred religious services.  Further, the lawsuit alleged that her supervisor tolerated and created a sexually hostile work environment where he and other male employees made offensive sexual comments and jokes in the workplace.

Whether employment related discrimination against Christians occurs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere, victims of workplace religious bias against Christians may contact the EEOC and an attorney or lawyer to determine if a religious harassment lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.