Sabbath Day Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

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.