Over the years, the US Supreme Court has upheld the rights of employees to receive workers compensation even though they refuse new employment, if the refusal was for religious reasons. Yesterday, a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided Rashad v. Labor & Indus. Review Commn., a case of this sort with a new twist. Rashad, a college instructor, refused a Spring Semester position because it would interfere with her making the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).
The WI Workers Compensation Statute (Sec. 108.04(8)) permits applicants to refuse work for "good cause". The Labor Commission however had held that there was not good cause here because Rashad was not obligated to make the Hajj in any particular year. Rashad disagreed, arguing that she was required to make the pilgrimage at the first opportunity, and that this was the first time that she was financially able to do so.
The Court of Appeals held that there was no evidence in the record to support the state board's apparent finding that there was not a religious necessity that the pilgrimage be made in one particular year. The court remanded for further factual findings and for consideration of the constitutional issues that are involved if workers compensation is denied.
