A recent case from the federal trial court in Gulfport, Mississippi, dealt with a certified nursing assistant (CNA) who claimed she was discriminated against based on religion. She alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and fired for reporting religious harassment. The court discussed some interesting points in its decision.
Facts
Shira Stallworth was employed as a CNA by Singing River Health System at its hospital in Ocean Springs. She claimed she was criticized by fellow employees when she used her lunch breaks to pray. She alleged that after she informed her nurse manager, Debora Joiner, of the alleged harassment, she was denied additional training she had requested. Further, she claimed that shortly after she reported the religious harassment, she was told that she was being suspended with a recommendation for discharge for insubordination.
The hospital maintained that Stallworth was terminated for insubordination when she tried to participate in a cross-training program despite not having Joiner’s authorization to participate. She also failed to follow the directions of the nurses as required. She didn’t dispute that Joiner hadn’t authorized her to participate in the cross-training program but instead argued that she misunderstood her supervisor.
In deciding Stallworth’s religious discrimination claims, the court found her argument unavailing. An employee’s unsupported belief that she had permission for her actions is not sufficient to defeat an employer’s stated reason for terminating her. Further, Stallworth provided no evidence that Joiner’s denial of her training request was motivated by religious discrimination.
Failure-to-Accommodate Claim
Stallworth claimed, in general terms, that Joiner didn’t try to accommodate her religious beliefs. To establish a failure-to-accommodate claim, an employee must show that she had a bona fide religious belief that conflicted with an employment requirement, she informed her employer of that belief, and she was discharged for failing to comply with a conflicting employment requirement.
Stallworth did inform Joiner that she used her break times to pray but she didn’t inform her supervisor, or any other supervisor, that she needed to take particular break times to pray or that she needed a special break schedule to accommodate her religious practices. Thus, there was no evidence that she was discharged for taking her breaks when she needed to pray.
Hostile Work Environment Claim
To establish a hostile work environment claim, Stallworth was required to show that she belonged to a protected group, she was subjected to unwelcome harassment, the harassment was based on religion, the harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of employment, and her employer knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt remedial action. Further, the harassment has to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to affect the conditions of employment. The conduct must be both objectively and subjectively offensive, meaning Stallworth and a “reasonable person” would perceive it as abusive.
Stallworth based her hostile work environment claim on an isolated comment by a nurse, Carol Mickel. She claimed that on one occasion Mickel told her it wasn’t a good time for her to take her lunch break to pray, that Mickel “would like Sundays off, but can’t have them,” and that Mickel told her there are “authorities” that you must obey other than the “Holy Spirit.” The court found that single incident wasn’t sufficiently pervasive to support a hostile work environment claim. There was no evidence that Mickel’s comments were motivated by any dislike of Stallworth’s religious practices. Rather, she was directing Stallworth to complete her work tasks before praying.
Retaliation Claim
Stallworth claimed that she was subjected to retaliation when she was denied cross-training and terminated for complaining to Joiner that the registered nurses weren’t allowing her to take breaks to pray. However, she was unable to overcome Singing River’s legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions. Since she was terminated for engaging in insubordination when she tried to participate in the cross-training program and for failing to follow the directions of nurses regarding patient care, she was unable to show that anyone of a different religious persuasion was retained under the same circumstances.
The court noted that Stallworth’s denial that she had engaged in wrongdoing wasn’t sufficient to rebut her employer’s reasons for termination. Her alleged “misunderstanding” of Joiner’s instructions certainly wasn’t sufficient to overcome Singing River’s evidence. She wasn’t prevented from praying on her lunch break or during any other breaks, there were no hostile comments with the exception of the comment by Mickel, and her belief that her religious practices caused her termination was insufficient to make a case. Stallworth v. Singing River Health System, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, 2011 WL 2532473.
What to Do When an Accommodation Request Is Made
Most religious accommodation claims stem from an employee requesting a specific accommodation for certain religious beliefs. Many requests involve a desire to take particular days off work, especially Saturdays or Sundays. Religious accommodation requests also come in the form of asking to wear certain apparel (like headscarves) or wear beards or certain hairstyles.
You should carefully consider each request and the possible accommodation you can offer within the confines of your business needs and the potential effect it will have on coworkers and customers. You may end up denying the requested accommodation, but engaging in a “give and take” discussion similar to the interactive process required by the Americans with Disabilities Act will assist you if a court eventually becomes involved.