An employee who sued for religious discrimination after she lost her job for violating her company’s antiharassment policy was handed a defeat in a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision. We’ll explain what happened and give you tips for avoiding similar problems.
Supervisor Offers Spiritual Guidance to Employee
Evelyn Bodett was a quality assurance manager for CoxCom Inc., an Arizona cable company. When openly gay employee Kelley Carson began reporting to her, Bodett told Carson that homosexuality was contrary to her Christian beliefs.
During a regularly scheduled “coaching” session, Carson told Bodett she was in turmoil because she had recently split with her partner and was concerned about meeting her financial obligations. She asked Bodett’s advice. Bodett replied that Carson’s relationship “was probably the cause of the turmoil in her life” and “that homosexuality is wrong, [and] considered by God to be a sin.” Bodett then closed her office door and the two prayed together.
Over the next six months, Carson attended church with Bodett and a women’s faith conference paid for by Bodett. During that same time, Bodett advised Carson at least three times that homosexuality was a sin. Bodett also told Carson, during a performance review, that she would be happy to learn that Carson was dating a man but would be unhappy if she were dating a woman.
400+ pages of state-specific, easy-read reference materials at your fingertips—fully updated! Check out the Guide to Employment Law for California Employers and get up to speed on everything you need to know.
Transfer Questioned
Eventually, Carson accepted a higher level position in Omaha that Bodett helped her to obtain. About the same time, Mireille DeBryucker, the vice president to whom both Carson and Bodett reported, learned that Carson had complained to a co-worker about Bodett’s comments regarding her sexuality. When DeBryucker asked Carson why she accepted the Omaha position, Carson explained she was uncomfortable with how Bodett dealt with her sexuality and told DeBryucker about Bodett’s comments. Carson said she hadn’t previously complained because she feared she would lose her job.
DeBryucker consulted with other managers regarding Bodett’s behavior and interviewed both Bodett and Carson. At the conclusion of the investigation, Bodett was terminated.
Employee Claims Religion Bias
Bodett sued CoxCom for religious discrimination. Coxcom denied the charges, arguing that it fired Bodett for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason—violating the company’s antiharassment policy. After a trial court dismissed the lawsuit, Bodett appealed.
Enforcement of Antiharassment Policy Trumps Bias Claim
The Ninth Circuit, which covers California, found that nothing in the circumstances surrounding the termination gave rise to an inference of religious bias.
What’s more, there was no evidence that CoxCom’s reason for the termination was merely a pretext for discrimination. The court noted that Bodett knew about the company’s antiharassment policy, admitted making the comments to Carson, and explained her behavior to DeBryucker by saying, “Sometimes there is a higher calling than a company policy.” In addition, even though there were no prior complaints or disciplinary action against Bodett, it was within management’s power to terminate her without prior warning for violating the antiharassment policy.
Avoiding Problems
To help avoid similar lawsuits, here are some steps you can take:
- Reinforce your antiharassment policy. An updated and widely distributed harassment policy is only the first step in preventing problems. Be sure all employees and managers receive training on what the policy means and have the opportunity to ask questions about it. This will allow you to dispel misconceptions about the policy and advise employees that even if they are members of a protected class, they won’t be shielded from discipline for violating the policy.
- Ensure discipline is based on conduct, not status. Keep investigations and discipline decisions focused on the behavior at issue. Your decisions will be easier to defend and will result in consistent treatment for all employees.
- Consider accommodation. If an employee’s religious beliefs come up against workplace policies, be sure to evaluate whether there’s a way to accommodate the employee’s religious beliefs, although the issue of accommodation didn’t come up in this case. Also keep in mind that the antibias laws don’t require you to accommodate an employee’s desire to impose their religious beliefs on co-workers. And, you don’t have to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs if doing so would result in discrimination against co-workers or deprive them of protected rights.