EEOC Gets Settlement To Reinstate Seventh Day Adventist Worker

Today's Sacramento Bee reports that Sierra Pacific Industries has entered a consent decree with the EEOC in a suit on behalf of a Seventh Day Adventist who was fired from the company's Oroville, California lumber mill when he refused to work Friday night shifts for religious reasons. The settlement reinstates Luciano Cortez and permits him to work a Monday through Friday day shift so he can be off on his Sabbath. It also awards him damages. The consent decree, approved by a California federal court last week, also requires the company to train its managers annually on accommodation of employees' religious beliefs and other discrimination issues, and to report annually to the EEOC.