Texas Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

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 .