Sabbath Day Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

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 .