Timeclock Scanners result in Religious Bias Suits
Businesses have been instituting hand scanners for their employees to clock-in and out of work each day. Two nursing home employees and a driver for Hertz Corp. refused to place their hands on the scanners for religious reasons. Their claim is based on their belief in the Book of Revelation which instructs believers not to "take the 'Mark of the Beast' on their foreheads or on their right hands." The employees believe the biometric hand scanners will place the "Mark of the Beast" on their hands. They are asking for an alternative time-keeping method. Read the news article here and the complaint here.
Other employers in the United States where this has happened have allowed employees to use their left hand for the hand scanner. There is no formerly published judicial opinions about if these people have to be accommodated.
A similar situation in New Zealand in 2004 ended with victory for the employer. The Employment Relations Authority of New Zealand found no basis for a discrimination claim because the biometric scanners do not actually imprint a mark on the hand. They do not even store the imprint or an image of a fingerprint.
The article mentions that as long ago as 1995 Pat Robertson told viewers of his TV show ("The 700 Club") that ... "The Bible says the time is going to come that you cannot buy or sell except with a mark placed on your hand or on your forehead. It is happening, ladies and gentlemen, exactly according to the Book of Revelation.”
I'm interested in what the class thinks about these cases. Some of us seemed skeptical of the "non-traditional" religions such as the Church of Body Modification in the Cloutier v. Costco case, what is the consensus on the more intensive or extreme believers of traditional religions?
Other employers in the United States where this has happened have allowed employees to use their left hand for the hand scanner. There is no formerly published judicial opinions about if these people have to be accommodated.
A similar situation in New Zealand in 2004 ended with victory for the employer. The Employment Relations Authority of New Zealand found no basis for a discrimination claim because the biometric scanners do not actually imprint a mark on the hand. They do not even store the imprint or an image of a fingerprint.
The article mentions that as long ago as 1995 Pat Robertson told viewers of his TV show ("The 700 Club") that ... "The Bible says the time is going to come that you cannot buy or sell except with a mark placed on your hand or on your forehead. It is happening, ladies and gentlemen, exactly according to the Book of Revelation.”
I'm interested in what the class thinks about these cases. Some of us seemed skeptical of the "non-traditional" religions such as the Church of Body Modification in the Cloutier v. Costco case, what is the consensus on the more intensive or extreme believers of traditional religions?
posted by stevie at
10:31 AM
1 Comments:
I've never heard anything about the "Mark of the Beast" before, but I suppose that according to Title VII, if this is simply a sincere belief the employees hold (regardless of whether or not it is connected with a known religious institution) then they are probably justified in asking for an alternative time-keeping method. If the issue is using their right hand to clock in and they were offered the opportunity to use their left hand for the hand scanner, it seems as if this would be considered a "reasonable accomodation". If the employees again refused to use their left hand, even though this is not the hand supposedly related to taking the "Mark of the Beast", then their religious claim may seem a little suspicious.
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