Written by Don Byrda federal court in New Jersey ruled a workplace discrimination lawsuit can proceed against Dollar General for refusing to accommodate the plaintiff’s religious mandate not to work on Saturday. The suit is proceeding not as a civil rights case at this time (though the plaintiff is allowed to resubmit his complaint to properly allege that claim), but as a breach of contract. He claims he and his employer entered into an agreement to allow him not to work on Saturdays in accordance with his faith.
Meanwhile, a new survey from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Study shows a disturbingly high level of religious discrimination in the workplace across the country.
Written by Don ByrdLast week, the 7th Circuit reversed the dismissal of an employment discrimination case in which a Nigeria-born employee of Heartland Sweeteners was denied time off to participate in burial rites for his father as required by his religious beliefs. The court ruled the employer has responsibilities to understand the breadth of religious exercise, even when as here the employee, Sikiru Adeyeye, did not explicitly refer to religion or faith in requesting accommodation.
Written by Don ByrdAccording to the Phoenix Business Journal, the religious discrimination in the workplace claim against Arizona’s Swift Aviation has settled for $50,000. Supervisors in the company were accused of harassing a Muslim employee in a lawsuit brought by the EEOC.
Written by Don ByrdThe EEOC announced settlement recently in two religious freedom lawsuits against employers who failed to reasonably accommodate employees. In Nags Head, North Carolina, a hotel will pay $45,000 and institute new training and policies regarding religious discrimination. The employee in the case was required to work on the Sabbath despite her requests not to be scheduled at that time.
Written by Don ByrdChrista Dias received a jury verdict of $170,000 earlier this month in her suit against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for wrongful termination. Ms. Dias was a computer teacher, a role which the trial court found was not “ministerial” and thus did not allow the defendants to argue an exemption from employment discrimination laws.
Now, the Archdiocese has filed a notice of appeal in the case. The Huffington Post Religion blog suggests the appeal’s will implicitly argue, among other things, for an expansion of the scope of the ministerial exception.
