Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Grocery Store

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination “because of” your religious beliefs. It also protects you from harassment based on your beliefs or religious affiliation, or retaliation if you complain abut discrimination. In addition, religious discrimination laws require that your employer make reasonable efforts to accommodate your beliefs and that your employer not impose its religious views on you or allow your co-employees to impose their values on you.

If you have questions about religious discrimination or believe that you may have been discriminated against as the result of your religious beliefs, consulting with an experienced Georgia religious discrimination lawyer is important to determine your rights and your next steps.

A recent lawsuit looked at the situation where an employee of a grocery store who was a Jehovah’s Witness minister and elder could bring a successful lawsuit for religious discrimination. In this instance, the worker was required to attend church services and church-related meetings on Sundays and Thursday evenings as a component of his faith. As a result, when he was hired the worker asked that he not be scheduled to work those evenings. While the grocery store originally accommodated this request, when the employee was transferred the grocery story failed to honor his wishes. He was subsequently fired.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to attempt to make reasonable accommodations to sincerely held religious beliefs of employees absent undue hardship. The lawsuit seeks back pay, past and future pecuniary losses, past and future non-pecuniary losses, compensatory damages, punitive damages and injunctive relief. A spokesperson for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission noted, “No person should ever be forced to choose between his religion and his job.”

As Georgia employment discrimination lawyers we agree and are committed to fighting against all forms of work place discrimination. For more information or if you believe that your employer has discriminated against you as the result of your religious beliefs, please contact the top Atlanta employment discrimination lawyers at Buckley Bala Wilson Mew LLP for an immediate case evaluation.