New York Paralegal Blog

TULSA, Okla. – A Lincoln, Nebraska-based supplier of lighting products violated federal law by refusing to hire a qualified applicant at its Tulsa facility because of his religious beliefs, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

Power Supplier Fired Jehovah’s Witness for Wanting One Day Off to Attend Religious Convention, Federal Agency Charges FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation, an electric power supplier located in Fayetteville, Ark., violated federal law by firing an employee because of her religious practices, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

An Ann Arbor, Mich., nursing home violated federal law when it fired a Jehovah’s Witness based on her religion and need for a religious accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed on 12/9/11. According to the EEOC’s suit (Case No. 2:11-cv-15407), filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Whitehall Healthcare terminated the discrimination victim, a Jehovah’s Witness from Ann Arbor, from her job as a certified nursing assistant due to her need to have Wednesdays and Sundays off to attend religious services. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees against discrimination based on religion and requires employers to provide employees with reasonable accommodations to allow them to practice their sincerely held religious beliefs. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation pr...

NASHVILLE – Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc. will pay $120,000 and provide other relief in a settlement of a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Salon chain Supercuts has agreed to pay $43,500 and to implement preventive measures to settle a religious accommodation and retaliation lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

Staffing agencies seem to forget that equal employment laws apply to them too. I have noticed a trend in New York, especially in the healthcare profession, how hospitals and nursing homes are using temporary employment agencies as a way to discriminate against those who they view as undesirable because of race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. It is good to know that the EEOC is working hard to unmask those who try to circumvent civil rights laws by using third party employment agencies.

ROANOKE, Va. – A moving and storage company headquartered in Roanoke will pay $30,000 and furnish substantial relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed the by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The company, Lawrence Transportation Systems, Inc., also has facilities in Waynesboro, Va., and Greensboro, N.C.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Finding that employees have no obligation to go to school after they are fired, a federal court in Rochester has denied Dresser-Rand Company’s attempt to limit damages in a long-standing lawsuit between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the company.

TULSA, Okla. – A federal court has agreed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that national clothing retail giant Abercrombie & Fitch, doing business as Abercrombie Kids, committed religious discrimination against a 17-year-old Muslim girl, the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Abercrombie Kids failed to hire Samantha Elauf for a sales position because she wore a hijab, or head scarf, in observance of her sincerely held religious beliefs.

SAN FRANCISCO – Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch violated federal law when it fired a Muslim employee for wearing a hijab (religious head scarf), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a workplace discrimination lawsuit filed today. According to the EEOC’s suit, in October 2009, Umme-Hani Khan, a 19-year-old Muslim woman, started working at the Hollister store (an Abercrombie & Fitch brand targeting teenagers aged 14 through 18) at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, Calif. As an “impact associate,” she worked primarily in the stockroom. At first she was asked to wear headscarves in Hollister colors, which she agreed to do. However, in mid-February, she was informed that her hijab violated Abercrombie’s “look policy,” an internal dress code, and was told she would be taken off schedule unless she removed her headscarf while at work. According to the EEOC, Khan was fired on Feb. 23, 2010, for refusing to take off the hijab...

HOUSTON—Jacqueline Lebaron, 46, the last of several members of the LeBaron family and “Lamb of God” religious sect charged for their involvement in a series of murders in 1988 in Houston and elsewhere, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct religious beliefs, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. United States District Judge Sim Lake accepted Lebaron’s guilty plea at a hearing this morning and has set sentencing for Sept. 8, 2011. Originally indicted in 1992, Lebaron had been a fugitive for more than 15 years until she was located in Honduras through the dogged efforts of the FBI. She was arrested in May 2010 after being deported from Honduras to the United States. The defendant’s conviction is based on crimes that occurred in June 1988. On June 27, 1988, William Heber Lebaron entered a business located at 2102 Blaylock in Houston and shot Mark Chynoweth three times, killing him. At approximately the same time, Richard Lebaron, with the direct assistance...

PHOENIX – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing pest control company Orkin of discriminatory hiring practices in denying jobs to older workers and favoring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) (Mormon) applicants, particularly returned missionaries. The EEOC also charged that Orkin retaliated against an applicant who complained to the company’s corporate headquarters about the alleged discrimination. According to the EEOC’s suit against of Orkin L.L.C., and Orkin Inc., doing business as Orkin Pest Control, (Case No. ), filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Orkin discriminated during the hiring process against Thomas Kokezas, as well as a class of individuals based on their age, over 40, or religion, non-Mormon. The EEOC’s complaint alleges that Orkin advertised on Craig’s List for a recruiter “to assist in hiring LDS missionaries for seasonal employ...

Delta Subsidiary Refused to Allow Shift Swaps for Sabbath Observances, Agency Charged MINNEAPOLIS – Judge Donovan W. Frank of the federal district court in Minneapolis late yesterday entered a consent decree resolving a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Mesaba Airlines. The decree provides for the distribution of $130,000 to five discrimination victims as well as injunctive relief. In its lawsuit, filed on September 30, 2008, the EEOC alleged that Mesaba Airlines, a regional airline and wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it terminated a Jewish customer service agent (CSA) because she refused to work on the Jewish Sabbath (EEOC v. Mesaba Airlines, D. Minn. No.08-cv-5308 [DWF/AJB].) The EEOC’s case focused upon an alleged Mesaba policy prohibiting employees from making voluntary shift swaps if they were within their initial...

PHOENIX – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that Federal District Court Judge Mary H. Murguia has entered a consent decree for nearly $2 million and significant remedial relief to resolve a class religious discrimination lawsuit against the University of Phoenix, Inc., and its parent corporation, Apollo Group, Inc. Apollo Group and the University of Phoenix are one of the largest employers in the Phoenix metropolitan area. In its lawsuit, filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (EEOC v. University of Phoenix, Inc., and Apollo Group, Inc., CV 06-2303-PHX-ROS), the EEOC charged that the University of Phoenix engaged in a widespread practice of discriminating against non-Mormon employees who worked as enrollment counselors in the University’s Online Division. Enrollment counselors at the University of Phoenix are responsible for recruiting students and are largely evaluated based on the number of students they recruit. At present, the Universi...