Arkansas energy company settles EEOC religious bias charges
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Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corp. has agreed to pay a former employee $95,000 to settle allegations that it fired her for attending a religious convention, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Fayetteville, Ark.-based nonprofit utility allegedly refused to give Julia Solis permission to take a day off to attend a Jehovah’s Witness convention in June 2010, then fired her for taking the day off anyway to attend the convention.
The EEOC filed a lawsuit on Ms. Solis’ behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in January 2012, claiming that the utility’s actions violated of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In a settlement agreement approved by the court Monday, Ozarks Electric agreed to pay Ms. Solis $95,000 in lost wages, job search and relocation expenses and other damages, according to court documents.
Ozarks Electric made no admission of any wrongdoing in reaching the settlement agreement.
“Employees are faced with many choices throughout their careers, but having to choose between their religion and their work should never be one of those choices,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Memphis, Tenn., district office said in a statement released on Monday.
The utility also agreed to change its leave policy to include an appeals process for employees who are denied religious accommodations, provide discrimination prevention training to its administrative staff, and submit to a two-year federal monitoring program, according to court documents.
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