Issues of Fact Remain On Accommodation of Employee's Sunday Observance

In Jacobs v. Scotland Manufacturing, Inc., (MD NC, June 21, 2012), a former employee who was fired for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons sued under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The company claimed that it had offered the employee an accommodation. He could use vacation time in lieu of working on Sundays. Plaintiff, however, contended that this arrangement also violates his religious beliefs. The court refused to grant summary judgment for defendants, saying that factual questions remain as to the reasonableness of the employer's proposed accommodation and as to whether other accommodations would cause the employer undue hardship. [Thanks to CCH Employment Law Daily via Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]