EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

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.