Monday, March 26, 2007

Burger Chain To Pay $150,000 To Resolve EEOC Religious Discrimination Suit

As a bit of a continuation of our discussion during class today, I found this article posted by the EEOC regarding a fast food chain in Bellevue, Washington who fired a worker for having visible tattoos circling his wrists. The tattoos were awarded to the worker as a ritual rite of passage for his ancient Egyptian religion. They did not cause any sort of issue with his co-workers, supervisors, or customers, but he was fired when a new manager compared his tattoos with the restaurant dress code that prohibits employees from having visible tattoos. Ultimately, the employee was awarded $150,000 for his religious discrimination and wrongful termination under Title VII, because the employer did not attempt to make reasonable accommodations for the employee and the employee's violation of the dress code did not cause an undue hardship on the restaurant.

The thing that I found particularly interesting about this case and our discussion today was the idea that was presented in class that one of the bases for religious accommodations in the workplace should be more concerned with the major religions of the world. In this case, the employee followed a very unorthodox religion by American standards, and still won. Similar to the body modification discussion, there needs to be a point at which we draw a line with joining "religions" to help your cause, but I am encouraged to see that people who belong to less powerful relgions are still protected in our socity. However, with the increasing religious diversity in the United States I am beginning to find it offensive how many organizations and businesses in the United States center their policies around "Christian values" such as the restaurant in this case had. Does anyone else feel this way? Obviously, this country was founded on these principles but it seems to me like they are being forced upon people more and more in recent times, pushing our country in a dangerous direction in society which is trickling down into more prevalent religious discrimination in the workplace. How can we protect our country from this problem which continues to infringe on people's First Amendment rights?

2 Comments:

Blogger Ryan E Gralia said...

I agree with you completely. Another company that walks the line of basing their policies off of the Christian religion is Wal-Mart. Remember the case we heard about earlier this semester where the lady and gentlemen were both fired because the lady had not officially terminated her previous marriage. Its not just basing policies off of a specific religion, but also off of what is perceived to be a perfect family. Who is Wal-Mart to say what a proper family is? I guarantee the upper management at these companies who aim at a "American Family Atmosphere" have far from a perfect home life. Hippocrates make me sick!

12:52 AM  
Blogger Eric Mumm said...

I am not at all surprised or offended that millions of businesses in the US center many of their sales/marketing themes around "Christian Values". After all, over 80 percent of the country considers themselves to be Christian and customers of Wal-Mart are likely of an even higher percentage of Christians (in the US).

Christmas is a vital time of the year for retailers, and shaping company images to mold certain values is expected. I completely disagree that these Christian values are being forced upon people. After all, people in America may choose where to work and where to shop.

I have many friends who hate Wal- Mart for a variety of reasons; they simply don't shop or work there (avioding "forced values" upon themselves).

5:03 PM  

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