A Durham, N.C.-based educational
testing company will pay $110,000 to settle a religious discrimination
lawsuit brought by the U.S. EEOC.
The EEOC had charged that Measurement Incorporated discriminated
against Jacqueline Dukes when it fired her for refusing to work on her
Sabbath. Dukes is a member of a Christian denomination called Children
of Yisrael which prohibits its members from working on the Sabbath, from
sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from
discriminating against employees and applicants 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.
In addition to the $110,000 in back pay and compensatory damages, the three-year consent decree resolving the case (EEOC v. Measurement, Inc.,
Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-00623 in U.S. District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina) includes injunctive relief enjoining
Measurement Incorporated from engaging in further religious
discrimination and requiring anti-discrimination training; the posting
of a notice about the EEOC and its lawsuit against the company; and
regular reporting by the company on its handling of religious
accommodation requests .
“Some employers still need to be educated that they are required by
law to explore reasonable accommodations to solve situations like this,”
said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte
District, which includes the EEOC’s Raleigh Area Office, where the
charge was filed. “No person should be forced to choose between her
religion and her job when the company can provide an accommodation
without suffering an undue hardship .”