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When hired, one of your organization’s employees informed his supervisor and the store manager that he would not be able to work on Sundays because of his religious convictions, making e it clear that if he could not have Sundays off, he would not be able to work for the organization. He stressed he was willing, however, to work any other day at any other time. The hiring supervisor agreed and did not schedule the employee to work Sundays. This scheduling continued, through several supervisors, until shortly after a new store manager was hired.
Seeking an explanation why he could not work on Sundays, the new manager questioned the employee about his unavailability for Sunday work and informed him that he needed to be fully flexible; if he could not work Sundays, he could not work at that store. Although he consistently maintained that his religious convictions prevented him from working at all on Sundays, he was put on the Sunday work schedule. He called in on Sunday and reiterated he would not be there for religious reasons.
He was called into the store manager's office and after he explained that he could not work Sundays for religious reasons, she insisted his Sunday absences could not continue. If he needed to attend church on Sundays, the manager said he could work a later shift, but he declined the offer reiterating that his religious practice required him to not work at all Sundays. She then offered part-time employment with no benefits and no guarantee of hours, which the employee declined, saying he needed to work full time and receive benefits. He asked his manager not to make him choose between his religion and his job. Nonetheless, he was scheduled to work the following Sunday and, after he explained that he would be unable to do so for religious reasons, he was terminated a short time later for unexcused absences. When he sued claiming religious discrimination, your organization’s defense was that offering him a later Sunday shift was a reasonable accommodation for his religious practices. Is it? |
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Answer: |
No, on similar facts, a federal appeals court found that, under these circumstances, the employer's offer to schedule the employee to work in the afternoons or evenings on Sundays, thereby giving him a chance to attend religious services, was not a reasonable accommodation. The employee presented evidence of numerous occasions where he made clear to supervisory personnel that his religious convictions prevented him from working at all on Sundays. During his final meetings with the store manager, the employee emphasized that he could not work on Sundays because of his religious convictions.
The employer first argued that the employee did not hold a bona fide religious belief that conflicted with a requirement of employment, but the court disagreed. Additionally, the manager offered what she thought were alternatives to accommodate his religious beliefs as she understood them, noted the court. However, the offer of a later shift was no accommodation because it would not permit the employee to observe his religious requirement to abstain from work totally (court's emphasis) on Sundays. The employer's offer could not be considered reasonable because it did not eliminate the conflict between the employment requirement and the employee's religious practice of not working on Sundays.
Although the court found the offer of a shift change inadequate as an accommodation, it did not rule on whether or not the employer's offer of part-time employment or allowing the exchange of shifts with other employees would constitute reasonable accommodations. Those were left for the district court to consider. The court did say that an offer of accommodation may be unreasonable if it causes an employee to suffer an “inexplicable diminution in his employee status or benefits” or if it imposes a significant work-related burden on the employee “without justification.”
Source: Baker v The Home Depot 2ndCir, 87 EPD ¶42,325
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