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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
The owners of a hotel that allegedly refused to permit a Seventh-day Adventist to have a day off on her Sabbath and fired her has agreed to pay $45,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday that Comfort Inn Oceanfront South in Nags Head, N.C., which is operated by Virginia Beach, Va.-based Landmark Hotel Group L.L.C., refused to accommodate Claudia Neal’s request to not work on her Sabbath, which is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
The EEOC said Ms. Neal began working at the hotel in May 2009 and her request to have the Sabbath off was honored initially. However, management changed in October 2010. In November 2010, the hotel group refused to provide her with a religious accommodation and fired her.
The EEOC said in addition to paying Ms. Neal the $45,000, the hotel group will implement policies designed to prevent religious discrimination and conduct training on antidiscrimination and antiretaliation laws, among other measures.
“Employers need to understand their obligation to balance the conduct of their business with employees’ needs and rights to practice their religion,” Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte district office, said in a statement. “Where there is minimal impact on the business, those religious needs must be accommodated. No person should ever be forced to choose between her religion and her job.”
A company spokesman had no comment.