The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for allegedly denying an employee’s reasonable accommodation request to wear a head covering as part of her religion. This violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said,
“This lawsuit is a reminder to all employers of their clear legal obligation to offer reasonable religious accommodations. In our country, employers cannot force an employee to choose between their faith and their job.”
Religious accommodations denied
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, contends that Franches Spears, a non-uniformed clerk who worked in administrative building, requested that she be allowed to wear a head covering in accordance with her religious beliefs. Other employees were allowed to wear hats and other non-religious head coverings.
Spears wore her head scarf to work for about a month without incident. One morning, she was asked to report to human resources. The HR specialists she met with informed her that she was in violation of TDCJ’s uniform and grooming standards. Spears did not have any direct contact with inmates except for a few inmates who were granted access to her building. Her job was strictly clerical.
During the meeting with the HR team, Spears explained that she wore her head scarf in accordance with the beliefs of her Ifa religious practices. She went on to explain some of the basic tenets of her faith. One of the HR specialists scoffed and said, “basically, you pray to a rock.” Spears was asked to fill out the “Request for Religious Accommodation Form,” then told she could either remove her head covering or go home without pay until her accommodation request was decided on.
Spears declined to remove her head covering, so TDCJ put her on indefinite paid leave. The Director of the Correctional Institutional Division could have verbally approved the accommodation temporarily, while the formal request was making its way through the process. Spears was denied temporary accommodations, nor did any other discussion take place to find alternatives that could allow her to continue working while abiding by her religious beliefs.
After Spears returned the written form, TDCJ informed her that they would need to further research her religion. TDCJ was not convinced her religious beliefs were sincere. Spears was told by the HR specialist that it was not normal practice to research religious practices. After some research, RDCJ requested more information, not from Spears herself, but from her religious leader. Ten (10) days after Spears submitted her request for accommodations, she received a letter to return all her work-related items to TDCJ, which she understood to mean that she was terminated.
Would accommodation cause undue hardship for TDCJ?
TDCJ never brought up safety or security concerns pertaining to Spears’ request. Spears never had a problem removing her head covering at the security checkpoint. She also allowed security officers to pat down the covering. TDCJ’s religious coordinator confirmed that other employees had been allowed to wear head coverings for religious purposes.
According to the lawsuit, TDCJ did not try to find any other options to accommodate Spears. In addition, they did not show that Spears’ request would have caused undue hardship in the workplace. Instead, they terminated her. The Justice Department seeks monetary compensation for Spears, both in the form of lost wages and compensatory damages for pain and suffering.