Can I file a lawsuit against my company for religious discrimination?

Question

My company recently scheduled an emergency meeting. Based off of my normal availability for work, I have always said I needed Sunday mornings off to go to church. They scheduled a meeting two days before this Sunday and told me it was required to be there. I reminded them that I have this schedule conflict, which was signed by my manager and accepted, and I was told that religion was not a good enough excuse to miss work and that I would reap the repercussions of missing that meeting. Later that day, I was told that if I did miss the meeting that they would fire me, or find some way of firing me if I made a mistake ever again. To me, that sounds like retaliation. Do I have a legitimate case? This is a pretty large global company, so if I have any base to sue, it could be a legitimite case.

Answer 1

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act you do not have anything. They did not ask you to come into work every Sunday per your original agreement. They asked you to come in specifically for that one Sunday due to a meeting they were holding with the staff. However, I do have an issue with the statement "..find some way of firing [you if] a mistake [was] made ever again." That could certainly be viewed as a form of retaliation BUT what you need to understand "retaliation" is not just one specific act or comment. Retaliation is continuous abuse unless that one specific act is an extreme. For example, one case in particular a couple of years ago a large global company in NYC the client had complained to HR numerous times over the abuse she was experiencing at the hands of executive management. Due to her complaints she was not only demoted, but they cut her salary by over 40% and moved her to a cubicle. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) found such a blatant and obvious act of retaliation after following company procedures to file a grievance with the appropriate department(s) could not be interpreted to mean she was demoted due to her work performance as they contended. There was no problem with her performance until she filed a complaint with the companies HR department and legal department. She won a nice chunk of change. My point to you is there request for you to attend this meeting should not have been an issue. You brought to there attention the agreement signed between you and the manager and you could have made it clear you could NOT miss another Sunday as agreed. NOW if they begin to nit pick at you and I suggest you begin keeping a diary then you may have grounds in the near future and can file a formal complaint with the EEOC. The manager or whomever said this to you is an idiot. I cannot believe they would actually make such a statement and if such a statement was made I suggest you go and file a complaint with the Human Resource department and begin building a case.

Answer 2

Could be that they scheduled the meeting so that you would complain about it so they could fire you. But then, likely not, as they could find a reason less subject to lawsuit.

It is clear that they are discriminating against you on religious grounds. But people lie and cheat, so proving it will be tough.
And if you right away file a discrimination suit, you will have to show that you have suffered from it, and filing a suit is the end of your job in the end anyway. And they are already looking to fire you, and it is hard to find a job with the reputation of being a person who will sue "the company."

So best thing is to make a deal - you'll find another job and they will help you leave by giving you a nice reference.

Or you could dig in and sue on principle. You might win, but you can't sue until they retaliate and they will just wait until they can drum up a "mistake" for which to fire you.....

Answer 3

First find an attorney and do not mention company name, yo umay have to call out of town if you don't live in a big city. Once that is out of the way you can always go to EEOC and they may help. If you first talk to them and are a white male, you will probably be turned down at this point and then only have two months to find an attorney. If you are something else I suggest the attorney first anyway and what they say is not gospel either.

Hopefully you will not be fired, but we will be able to get back pay and job back and possibly more. People are just that way now a days. there's also the ACLU, but there again you have that slant towards a certain area.

Please remember that the peter Principle applies to our government. Hope it works out, but if they say you could have gone to night services, you never know, but super big plus document signed by owner.

Hope you end up owning company. Take care.

Answer 4

This is an either way situation; they did give you Sundays off but this is a one time emergency meeting. You can talk to an attorney and the case might go your way, but be advised if you do get fired and pursue this in a court of law, other companies will be reluctant to hire you. You can go to the meeting this one time and make sure they know it is an exception you are making, and you can attend a church service Saturday night if they have one at that time.
On your side is the signed permission from your mgr; on their side is this emergency situation one time event.

Answer 5

If your manager signed off on you being able to take Sundays off, then I don't know why they would act this way. Do you work for the church in some way, or just attend service? A lot of churces have services on Wednesdays. Is there a way you could go then so you could still make the meeting? If you really want to take it as far as suing them, then you need to contact an employment attorney and find out if you even have a chance to win this. My sister got fired from her job one time when she didn't show up for a mandatory meeting on her day off. Be careful.

Answer 6

You have no case. Your employer has the right to call you anytime. He does give you a paycheck. You say it was an "emergency" meeting? That's just part of normal business practice. And, if your company operates on a 24-hour basis, you really have no leg to stand on.

I am a Christian, and try to attend service every Sunday. Yet, my company (a major US airline) has called me in many times to handle emergency or urgent issues not only on Sunday (any time of the day), but also on weekends, nights and holidays.

Answer 7

I don't believe this question. And even if it is true the company would have enough or be able to create enough without the missed meeting to fire you. The world and business doesn't stop on Sunday and you can worship anytime and anyday. Get over yourself . And get over this sue happy attitude. Maybe you would be better off working for a Christian company.................

Answer 8

It is better if the Company respects your sentiment and gives you off on Sunday for enablilng you to attend the Church. But the Company is not established to give you off on Sunday alone. You should discharge your responsibilities to the requirements of the Company. With one man's negligence, the entire Company may collapse. At the end, you can file any suit against Company as such you can not prove the religious descrimination.

Answer 9

My mother is a paralegal in a law office. You should talk to your attorney and get as much proof as possible that they threatened you. If they do fire you, that is a good case for wrongful termination. If you do peruse it, I would settle. You'll get more out of that than if you take it to court. However, If you do involve the law that job will probably get very awkward. But this all depends on your companies hand book and the law of your state.

Answer 10

Has the company knowingly refused to accomodate your schedule on numerous occassions or scheduled you deliberately on this day. Asking you to come in one Sunday for a meeting is not violating your rights. Suck it up and go.
It seems to me they have accomodated you and you should accomodate them once in a while. You can go to church later in the day or that evening or during the week. Churches understand people have to work.