The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit against a California trucking company, alleging it forced a Christian employee to quit after refusing to accommodate his religious need to attend Sunday church services.
Blue Eagle Contracting, Inc., a Grass Valley-based bulk mail delivery contractor for the U.S. Postal Service, is accused of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to restore a Christian driver to a weekday shift so he could worship on Sunday mornings. The lawsuit was filed April 3.
When the driver was hired in September 2022, he informed his supervisors of his need to attend church on Sundays, and the company initially assigned him to a weekday delivery route between Reno and Tonopah, Nevada. The arrangement held until a co-worker unexpectedly resigned, at which point the driver voluntarily covered Sunday morning shifts on a temporary basis until a replacement could be hired.
The trouble began when that replacement arrived. Rather than returning the Christian driver to his original weekday schedule as expected, the company allegedly kept him on the weekend shift and gave the new hire the weekday route instead. Despite repeated complaints, his supervisors declined to accommodate his religious observance, ultimately leaving him with no choice but to resign.
“Employers are bound by federal law to explore a range of possible accommodations to ensure that employees retain their right to freely exercise their faith,” said Christopher Green, district director for the EEOC’s San Francisco District Office.
Senior EEOC Trial Attorney Mariko Ashley echoed that warning. “To force employees to choose between exercising their religious beliefs and their livelihoods, absent undue burden on the employer, violates the law and the EEOC will hold employers accountable,” she said.
The lawsuit arrives against a broader backdrop of heightened federal attention to religious liberty in the workplace. Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor launched a new website for its Center for Faith, fulfilling part of President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing a White House Faith Office and similar centers across federal agencies. The center aims to help faith-based organizations access grant funding, reduce regulatory burdens, and combat religious discrimination, including what it describes as anti-Christian and anti-Semitic bias.
“Americans should not face discrimination in the workplace because of their religion,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “Thanks to President Trump, Americans’ right to religious freedom is more protected than ever before.”
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