COMPANY MUST PAY $45K AND MODIFY ITS EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Even though Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. granted his request for a religious exemption in 2017 and 2018, in 2019, when the employee asked for an exemption to the company’s vaccination requirements, not only was the request denied, but he was eventually terminated.
Given that he worked primarily outside, and that he had “limited interaction with the public or staff,” the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit (Civil Action No. 1:22-CV-04953-MLB-RDC) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In late-December, it was announced that in addition to settling the matter by way of a $45,000 payment to the impacted individual, the company had agreed to modify its employment related policies and practices to comport with federal law.
Marcus G. Keegan, the regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, noted in a written statement that “It is the responsibility of an employer to accommodate its employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs …. Unless doing so would require more than a minimal cost, an employer may not deny requested religious accommodations, let alone revoke those previously granted without issue. The EEOC is pleased that the employee has been compensated and that CHOA has agreed to take steps to ensure that it meets its obligation to evaluate religious accommodation requests in a manner consistent with federal law.”
Now how childish was all of that?
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