Refusal To Discuss Sabbath Accommodation For Correctional Officer Violates Title VII

In Schutte v. Department of Corrections, (CO Pers. Bd., Dec. 19, 2011), a Colorado State Personnel Board administrative law judge held, in an initial decision, that a state correctional facility illegally discriminated against a Messianic Jewish correctional officer by refusing to accommodate his religious need to have Friday nights and Saturdays off from work.  The opinion concluded that the complainant's supervisors violated Title VII of the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act by refusing to engage in an interactive process once complainant raised the scheduling issue. KSUA News reports on the decision.