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Two Employment Discrimination Cases-- One Settled, One Filed

By Howard M. Friedman

Two cases involving religious discrimination in employment are in the news. On May 28, the EEOC announced the entry of a consent decree in a lawsuit it filed in New Jersey federal district court against the oil company, ConocoPhillips. The company had required Clarence Taylor, a pipe fitter at its refinery, to work a schedule that would cause him to miss his Sunday church services for two months. Taylor is a deacon and lay leader in his church. Under the settlement, ConocoPhillips will revise its equal employment policies and provide training to managers and employees. Taylor will get 5 additional leave days and ConocoPhillips will pay damages and make a contribution to charity that total $20,000.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the ACLU announced Friday that it has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on behalf of Sinan Fazlovic, a Bosnian Muslim who moved to the United States in 1999. (Full text of complaint.) When Fazlovic accepted a job as a detention officer, he was assured he could continue to wear his beard. However subsequently he was told he would have to shave his beard in order to keep his job, and was denied a religious accommodation. He shaved his beard temporarily, but then regrew it. He was reassigned to a lower paying position and he ultimately resigned. The Phoenix New Times reports on the case. In a statement (full text from Phoenix New Times), the sheriff's office says that its actions were the result of federal OSHA regulations governing the type of face masks authorized for use in jail emergency situations.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 31, 2009 (boomark / email).