Title VII Suit Against DC Transit Authority Settled

The Justice Department announced yesterday that it has entered a settlement agreement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in a Title VII religious discrimination case. The lawsuit was filed after WMATA refused a religious accommodation to permit Gloria Jones, who had preliminarily been hired as a bus driver, to wear a long skirt instead of pants. The settlement calls for WMATA to implement a religious accommodation policy and provide mandatory training on religious discrimination and accommodation for its supervisory employees. WMATA will also pay Jones $47,324 and will pay $2,500 each to two other individuals who were refused an accommodation to depart from the Authority's uniform policy. (See prior related posting.)