Fedweek Legal

In Bullock v. U.S. Postal Service, EEOC Appeal No. 07A40101 (2005), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concluded that the U.S. Postal Service discriminated against a mail handler on the basis of his religion when it refused to accommodate the mail handler’s request to not work on Saturdays.

James Bullock began as a casual mail hander with the agency in 1997. In May 2000, after studying the Bible and consulting with members of his church, Mr. Bullock concluded that Saturday was the proper day to celebrate the Sabbath. After notifying his supervisor of his religious beliefs, the USPS accommodated Mr. Bullock by not scheduling him to work on Saturdays. Mr. Bullock successfully performed his job. After the USPS transferred him to another postal facility in February 2002, Mr. Bullock continued to work the same schedule until April 2002. In April 2002, Mr. Bullock notified his new supervisor of his religious beliefs, but the new supervisor prohibited him from taking Saturdays off. The USPS terminated Mr. Bullock after he missed work on Saturday, May 4, 2002. One week after Mr. Bullock’s termination, the Postal Service adjusted the schedules of other casual mail handlers and granted them Saturdays off. Mr. Bullock then filed an EEO complaint to contest his termination as discriminatory based on his religious beliefs.

In order to establish a claim of religious discrimination, Mr. Bullock was required to show that (1) he had a bona fide religious belief that conflicted with his employment; (2) he informed the agency of his belief and the conflict with work; and (3) the agency failed to accommodate his belief. The agency argued that Mr. Bullock’s belief was not legitimate because his church, the African Methodist Episcopal church, recognized Sunday, not Saturday, as the day of Sabbath. Nonetheless, the Commission found that Mr. Bullock’s belief in a Saturday Sabbath was credible based upon his interpretation of scripture, prayer, and discussions with fellow congregants. Under the federal anti-discrimination statute prohibiting religious discrimination, Mr. Bullock was not required to prove that his interpretation of scripture was accurate, only that he sincerely believed that the accommodation was required.

As a defense to its duty to accommodate Mr. Bullock’s schedule, the USPS contended that allowing Mr. Bullock to take Saturdays off would create an undue hardship. Specifically, it argued that accommodating Mr. Bullock’s schedule would disrupt the Postal Service’s work schedule obligations under the collective bargaining agreement. The Commission rejected that argument because the USPS made no effort ask other employees whether they would be willing to voluntarily switch schedules to accommodate Mr. Bullock. Additionally, evidence that the USPS allowed casual mail handlers to take Saturdays off, one week after Mr. Bullock’s termination, indicated that adjusting schedules was not disruptive. Based upon this evidence, the Commission concluded that the Postal Service discriminated against Mr. Bullock on the basis of his religion.

An employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs served as the model for the reasonable accommodation standards established under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for employees with disabilities. However, there is an important distinction between a reasonable accommodation request in the religious context and a reasonable accommodation request for a disability under the Rehabilitation Act. When requesting an accommodation for religious purposes, the request must be more specific. The employee must put an agency on notice that his/her religious belief created a conflict with a specific work requirement, such as a work schedule.

This information is provided by the attorneys at Passman & Kaplan, P.C., a law firm dedicated to the representation of federal employees worldwide. For more information on Passman & Kaplan, P.C., go to http://www.passmanandkaplan.com.

The attorneys at Passman & Kaplan, P.C, are the authors of The Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide, Second Edition, a comprehensive overview of federal employees’
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