In 2009, an assistant manager at Walmart encountered threats of termination and disciplinary action because he observed the Sabbath.
The devout Mormon observed the Sabbath from 1995 to 2009, jobmouse.com reports, but after Walmart revised its scheduling system they stopped the Sabbath accommodation, and began to discipline the man and mark each absence when he couldn't get someone to swap his Sunday shift.
On June 1st, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $70,000 to the man as well as execute measures to prevent future religious discrimination lawsuits. The measures would include providing training to human resource personnel regarding religious understanding, 4029 News reported.
The EEOC explained that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to the "sincere religious beliefs" of employees as long as they do not pose undue hardship.
“No one should have to choose between their faith and their work,” EEOC San Francisco Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo told jobmouse.com. “Accommodating a long-time, dedicated employee is a sound business practice. And federal law clearly obligates employers to provide an employee with reasonable accommodation unless it poses an undue hardship. This settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution of the lawsuit.”