On Tuesday, the EEOC announced that it has filed a Title VII lawsuit against Blackwell Security Services, Inc., a hotel and condominium staffing company, for refusing to accommodate a Muslim employee's religious practice. According to the EEOC:
[T]he employee, who worked as a concierge in Chicago, Illinois, is a practicing Muslim who wears a beard as required by his religious beliefs. Soon after he was hired, he was told by a Blackwell supervisor that it was company policy that all employees be clean shaven. The employee requested an exemption from the policy to accommodate his religious practice. However, according to the EEOC’s complaint, Blackwell told him to shave his beard or be terminated. To avoid losing his job, the employee complied.
