All:
This came in the morning mail. It had rather long "TO and COPY"
sections which I have deleted... Further details may be found in the link.
R. E. (Dick) Driscoll, Sr.
*National Federation of the Blind Sued for Religious Discrimination by
EEOC*
**/Advocacy Group Terminated an Employee because He Would Not Work on
the Sabbath, Federal Agency Charged/**
BALTIMORE - The National Federation of the Blind, the largest
organization of blind and low-vision people in the United States,
violated federal law when it refused to allow an employee to observe his
Sabbath and instead terminated him because of his religion, the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it
announced today.
According to the lawsuit, Joseph R. Massey II is a practicing Hebrew
Pentecostal, a Christian denomination, and abstains from working from
sunset Friday to sunset Saturday based on his sincerely-held religious
beliefs. The National Federation of the Blind hired Massey for a
bookkeeping position at its Baltimore office in November 2013. In
January 2014, the Federation told Massey he had to work certain
Saturdays. Massey explained he could not work Saturdays due to his
religious faith and suggested alternatives such as working on Sundays or
working late on week nights other than Fridays. EEOC charged that the
Federation refused to provide any reasonable accommodation and instead
fired Massey because he could not work Saturdays due to his religious
beliefs.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals
because of their religion and requires employers to reasonably
accommodate an employee's sincerely-held religious beliefs unless doing
so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. EEOC filed suit
(//EEOC v. The National Federation of the Blind//, Civil Action No.
1:15-cv-02484-GLR) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland,
Baltimore Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation
settlement through its conciliation process.
"Employees should not have to choose between their jobs and their
religious convictions when a religious accommodation will not unduly
burden others," said EEOC Philadelphia District Director Spencer H.
Lewis, Jr.
EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, "Most religious
accommodations are not unduly costly, such as allowing an employee to
switch his schedule to observe his Sabbath. No employee should be
forced to choose between earning a living and following the dictates of
his faith."
EEOC's Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Its
legal staff also prosecutes discrimination cases arising from
Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.
EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.
Further information about the agency is available at its website,
www.eeoc.gov
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.eeoc.gov&d=BQMCaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=X-azbiIlLDe6yFm40VOo18BkP3dAM0rd0Ra4aH1VCUU&s=r8E7HDDW1tHlrNnXx76co9RJpg0MAQYmFeuiHLDXiq8&e=>.
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/national-federation-of-the-blind-sued-36517/?utm_source=JD-Supra-eMail-Digests
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.jdsupra.com_legalnews_national-2Dfederation-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dblind-2Dsued-2D36517_-3Futm-5Fsource-3DJD-2DSupra-2DeMail-2DDigests&d=BQMCaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=X-azbiIlLDe6yFm40VOo18BkP3dAM0rd0Ra4aH1VCUU&s=2h2gkTHVm-iso4Gw9uPk127o2sQOVIxWkTz82tm4L2k&e=>
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