EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

Religious discrimination charge filings reported to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) offices nationwide have substantially increased from 1,388 in Fiscal Year 1992 to 3,273 in Fiscal Year 2008.  Accoring to a June 18, 2009 EEOC Press Release, United Parcel Service, Inc. has agreed to offer monetary damages and religious accommodations to a 19-year employee at UPS’s Bartlett, Tennessee facility to resolve a religious discrimination lawsuit filed against UPS by EEOC attorneys.  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, the lawsuit charged that UPS violated federal law by refusing to accommodate the religious beliefs of one of its drivers and trying to force him to work past sundown on his Sabbath.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/6-18-09.html .  This conduct allegedly violated his tenets as a member of the United Church of God, and, in this regard, religious discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandates that sincerely held religious beliefs of employees must be accommodated by employers as long as it does not cause undue hardship on the company.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that “All employers must respond reasonably to an employee’s religious accommodation requests.” 

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