FCA US, LLC, an international automobile manufacturer of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat car brands, violated federal law by refusing to accommodate an employee’s request to observe the Sabbath and take unpaid leave for Passover, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, FCA initially allowed the employee a religious accommodation which excused him from working during the Jewish Sabbath. However, FCA management decided to revoke the accommodation.
The employee was able to obtain a position and schedule that did not conflict with his observance of the Jewish Sabbath. Yet, two months later, FCA instituted mandatory Saturday work, which conflicted with the employee’s religious beliefs, the EEOC alleges.
Instead of engaging with the employee and providing a reasonable religious accommodation, FCA disciplined him for attendance violations for not working during the Sabbath, EEOC said. The employee complained of FCA’s discriminatory actions, but FCA continued to issue him attendance violations for not working during the Sabbath.
The employee filed a charge of discrimination against FCA. Three months later, FCA denied the employee’s request to be excused from work for two days, without pay, to observe Passover. Because the employee chose to observe Passover rather than work, FCA disciplined him for more attendance violations, then fired him.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination or retaliation because of an individual’s religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious observance or practice unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
Retaliation against an employee for complaining about discrimination is also against federal law. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. FCA US, LLC, Case No. 25-cv-11675) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
Source: EEOC
Topics
Lawsuits
Auto
Manufacturing
Interested in Auto?
Get automatic alerts for this topic.
