Monday, June 30, 2008

Employer's Proposed Accommodation Found Inadequate In Title VII Case

In Walker v. Alcoa, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45684 (ND IN, June 9, 2008), a Title VII employment discrimination case, an Indiana federal district court held that Alcoa failed to reasonably accommodate a worker who refused to work on Sundays for religious reasons. The court held that while various accommodations were offered by Alcoa to employee Timothy Walker, none of them completely removed the religious conflict. The court said that factual disputes remain as to whether Walker's preferred accommodation-- a permanent guarantee of Sundays off-- would impose an undue hardship on Alcoa. The court, however, dismissed Walker's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.