Original Story: chicagotribune.com
A Muslim flight attendant for ExpressJet says she was wrongly suspended from her job last month because she refused to serve alcohol to passengers, citing her religious beliefs.
Charee Stanley, a Detroit-based flight attendant for ExpressJet, filed a discrimination complaint Tuesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A Memphis employee rights lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
The airline had agreed to give Stanley a religious accommodation, saying she could work out an arrangement with the other flight attendant on duty so they could serve alcohol instead. She was suspended only after a colleague complained, said Lena Masri, an attorney with the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Stanley, 40, has worked for the Atlanta-based airline for nearly three years and during that time converted to Islam, Masri said. Stanley approached a supervisor in June after learning that her faith forbids not just consuming alcohol but also serving it.
When the co-worker complained, Stanley was put on unpaid leave for a year, Masri said.
"She was placed on unpaid leave for following the instructions that ExpressJet airlines gave her," Masri said.
Masri claimed the complaint against Stanley was discriminatory, with the employee noting Stanley carried a book with "foreign writings" and wore a head scarf. A Memphis employment discrimination lawyer represents clients in employee rights cases involving whistle blowers, victims of retaliation, discrimination, and harassment.
A spokeswoman for ExpressJet said in an emailed statement that the airline values diversity but could not comment on specific personnel matters.
"At ExpressJet, we embrace and respect the values of all of our team members. We are an equal opportunity employer with a long history of diversity in our workforce," the statement said.
ExpressJet has 9,000 employees, 388 planes and averages 2,200 flights each day, according to the company's website.
Showing posts with label Religious Beliefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religious Beliefs. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Thursday, July 10, 2014
HIRING PROCESS JUST GOT DICIER
Original Story: WSJ.com
FOR FIRMS, APPLICANTS, ANY TALK OF EMPLOYER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS LEGAL MINEFIELD
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
FOR FIRMS, APPLICANTS, ANY TALK OF EMPLOYER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS LEGAL MINEFIELD
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
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