Two truck drivers are sometimes required to share the driving on “sleeper runs.” A male employee asked for a religious Accommodation; his religious beliefs prevented him from traveling with a woman he was not married to because of the “appearance of evil” and “hanky panky.” The Sixth Circuit held that the case could be dismissed because the employer’s seniority system was more important than its responsibility to accommodate.
A Catholic hospital secretary expressed her views about gays to an ex-Catholic lesbian who became her boss. Since the reasons for the secretary’s discharge were “inconsistent,” the secretary’s religious discrimination claim was not dismissed.
A Seventh Day Adventist stated that his religion barred him from joining a union. Religious beliefs protected by Title VII do not have to be “acceptable, logical, consistent or comprehensible to others,” but they must be sincere. Sincerity is for the jury to decide.
A library employee was fired for violating a dress code by wearing a cross. She sued under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The court found that the library’s interest in enforcing its dress code did not outweigh the employee’s right to free speech or the free exercise of her religion.