A New Jersey corporation, which owns and operates several hospitals and numerous health centers, has entered into conciliation agreements with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve six religious discrimination charges, the EEOC announced on May 31, 2023.
According to the EEOC, all six charges were the result of the company’s denying employees a religious exemption to its mandatory influenza vaccination policy. Prior to 2020, the company’s influenza vaccination policy provided for both medical and religious exemptions. In 2020, the company modified its influenza vaccination policy in an attempt to comply with a New Jersey statute that requires healthcare employees to get the influenza vaccine. The statute provided for medical exemptions but didn’t provide religious exemptions. The company then modified its pre-existing influenza vaccination policy to remove the ability to obtain a religious exemption and denied their employees’ request for a religious accommodation.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees.
According to the conciliation agreements, the company will provide a total of $100,000 in compensatory damages to five employees who agreed to conciliate their charges, and will also revise its influenza vaccination policy to explicitly provide employees an exemption to the policy because of an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs; disseminate the revised influenza vaccination policy; and grant requests for reasonable accommodations to its influenza vaccination policy based on sincerely held religious beliefs, except where doing so would impose an undue burden on the company. It also agreed that compliance with the statute would not be considered as imposing an undue burden and would not be a justification for denying a request for a reasonable accommodation.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical, or moral beliefs. The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer’s operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures to ensure prevention of any type of discrimination, including religious discrimination. Revise policies and procedures if needed.
- Train staff about their right to be free from discrimination in the workplace. Teach staff to report any concerns of discrimination against themselves or their co-workers to their immediate supervisor, the compliance officer, or through the facility’s hotline.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they are experiencing discrimination or have observed it happening to others. Ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
