Absence From Work Due To Religious Belief
hello everyone. This issue worries me and so I come here and seek help. I work without a contract and so it is willful termination by either party at any time (I am a student so I do not have my degree yet and that is why I work for a non contract job). I have stated before I was ever hired that because of my religion I do not work Sundays, period. I expressed that I am willing to work at any time Mon-Sat but I in no way can work Sundays, they said that was fine. It has been almost a year and I have never been scheduled for a Sunday in my life, suddenly I am. I talked to my manager and all I got was "I don't really care, you need to be here."
My religion makes Sunday a day of rest and I do not work Sundays, so i am not planning on coming in. If I got fired for this is there any chance I could win a lawsuit for religious discrimination or will the company simply lie and claim that i did not do my job well and that was the reason for termination?
Thanks so much.
Re: Can I be fired for this?
If you loose your job because of what you explained, I advise you to contact ACLU. What state are you in?
Re: Can I be fired for this?
Depending upon the size of your employer, you may have protections of your sincerely held religious beliefs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964. The EEOC offers an overview.
Depending upon your state, you may have additional protections under state law.
Re: Absence From Work Due To Religious Belief
I am in the state of Wisconsin, and yes, I work for a very bid company.
You think I would have a case? I thought there would be no chance considering that at will employees get fired without the company having to prove the reason and the ability to claim that the employee was simply not doing their job correctly.
Re: Absence From Work Due To Religious Belief
It's possible that there's a case (if you are disciplined by your employer for acting on your sincere religious beliefs); I have no way of knowing what evidence exists to back up your claims. Consult a plaintiff-side employment lawyer in your state.
Re: Absence From Work Due To Religious Belief
I agree it's possible, but it is not guaranteed. Some of the factors that will be looked at will be whether it is your preference or a requirement of your religion that you have Sundays off; what kind of accomodation, if any, would have been possible; whether this was a one-off thing or was going to be a continuing issue, and various other things.
It's certainly worth a try.