Workers Comp Denial Did Not Violate Free Exercise Rights

In Lippert v. Lumpkin, (OH App, Nov. 29, 2010), an Ohio appellate court rejected an employee's claim that his free exercise rights were violated when the state denied him unemployment compensation benefits after he was terminated for refusing to work at the employer's site rather than from home on Sundays. The court observed:

appellant offers no evidence addressing the sincerity of his beliefs or describing how the work schedule infringes upon his constitutional right to freely engage in his religion, other than stating that he irregularly attends church on Sunday. There is no evidence in the record describing the tenets of appellant's religion, the sincerity of his religious beliefs, whether Sunday church service is integral to his religious practices, or if no alternative means of worship are available such as services only being offered during his working hours on Sunday.... Moreover, there is no indication that appellant informed [his employer] that the new schedule would interfere with his religious practices.