Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination over religion.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued two businesses for firing workers who had sought religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
United Healthcare Services, a Cleveland-based health care provider, and Arkansas-based Hank’s Furniture violated federal law when denying the exemption requests and firing the workers, according to the suits.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination over religion and requires businesses to accommodate a worker’s religious practice unless doing so would cause “undue hardship.”
“Once an employer is on notice that an employee’s sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance prevents the employee from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, the employer must provide a reasonable accommodation unless it would pose an undue hardship,” Debra Lawrence, a regional attorney for the EEOC, said in a statement. “Neither healthcare providers nor COVID-19 vaccination requirements are excepted from Title VII’s protections against religious discrimination.”
Marsha Rucker, another EEOC attorney, said the suit against the furniture retailer “should remind employers they must communicate with employees requesting accommodation for religious beliefs and try to accommodate those beliefs whenever reasonably possible.”
She pointed to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found in favor of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who sued after the service refused to accommodate his request not to work on Sundays.
“There is now a higher bar for employers to meet when denying a religious accommodation,” Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, a law firm that brings similar cases, said in a statement. “People should not have to choose between their faith and their job.”
The EEOC said in 2021 that businesses could impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates but would need to provide religious and medical accommodations.
United Healthcare told The Epoch Times in an email that it plans to “vigorously defend ourselves” against the suit.
“Among other things, the EEOC’s contention that the employee in question was a remote worker with no in-person job responsibilities is inaccurate,” the company said. “We continue to respect individual beliefs, while working to ensure the health, well-being, and safety of our colleagues and those we are privileged to serve.”
Hank’s Furniture didn’t have lawyers listed on the court docket and couldn’t otherwise be reached.
