Truckload Authority - Fall 2015

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Sincerely Held
The definition of religion may catch carriers off guard
R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N
Look it up in the dictionary and you’ll get perhaps
as many as 10 definitions supporting the
most common meaning: “a set of beliefs concerning
the cause, nature and purpose of the
universe, especially when considered as the creation
of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually
involving devotional and ritual observances,
and often containing a moral code governing the
conduct of human affairs.”
For most Americans, religious practices center
around the Christian faith, which according
to a 2014 poll, is the faith of 70.6 percent of
Americans.
Judaism is the faith of 1.9 percent of Americans,
Islam 0.9 percent and Hinduism 0.7 percent.
Other religions make up 2.7 percent of the
population; 22.8 percent say they practice no
religion.
Given that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling
has broadened the scope of religious accommodation
claims when an individual’s religious
beliefs or practices conflict with requirements
for performing the job, it is now more important
than ever for member companies to understand
and know how they can protect themselves
against such claims, according to Ron Goode,
TCA’s director of education.
The recent court decision involved a Muslim
who applied for a job at a national retailer. She
wasn’t hired because her religion required her
to wear a headdress that the retailer said would
violate the company’s “Look Policy.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
sued the retailer on the applicant’s behalf,
and the court ruled that the retailer had violated
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Partly because of that decision, TCA presented
a webinar recently on “Accommodating
Employee Religious Practices in the Trucking Industry”
hosted by Eddie Wayland, TCA general
counsel and partner of King & Ballow in Nashville,
Tennessee, where he supervises the Litigation
Section, and Howard Kastrinsky, a partner
at King & Ballow and head of the firm’s Employment
and Discrimination Section.
“Title VII deals with race, sex, religious and
other types of discrimination, but it specifically
talks about religion,” Wayland said. “Under Title
VII, an employer cannot refuse to hire or discharge
any individual or otherwise discriminate
against any other individual on the basis of their
religion.”
But the law doesn’t stop there,” Wayland
said.
“It also provides that it’s unlawful for an employer
to limit, segregate or classify their employees
or their applicants for employment in
any way that would deprive or tend to deprive
any individual of employment opportunities or
otherwise adversely affect their status as an
employee because of that employee’s religion.”
What’s more, Wayland said Title VII goes further
with respect to religious discrimination than
other areas covered by Title VII in that it requires
an employer to accommodate an employee’s
religious beliefs or practices unless doing so
would cause more than a minimal burden, or in
other words, an undue hardship, on the operations
of the employer’s business.
The definition of religion is what catches many
employers off guard in a country that tends to
think of religion centering around worship at a
church, synagogue, or mosque.
“Title VII protects all aspects of religious observances,
practices or beliefs and religion is described
very broadly and includes things that are
new and uncommon, not part of a church, and
only subscribed to by a few people that seem
logical and reasonable,” Kastrinsky said.
Even professing no religion can be construed
as a religion under Title VII, he said.
By Lyndon finney
“Remember, religious beliefs not only include
theistic beliefs (those who profess a belief in
God), but non-theistic moral or ethical beliefs
about what is right or what is wrong,” Kastrinsky
said.
“The right not to believe is protected just as
much as the right to believe, but the question
becomes are they sincerely-held religious beliefs
and that is something of a quagmire in which
we find ourselves often in these cases,” Wayland
said. “Frankly, an employee’s religious beliefs
can deviate from commonly followed tenets of
the religions and the beliefs can change over
time. We always talk about people finding religion
or being born again, and sometimes that’s
an act of grace and sometimes that’s something
somebody does because they think it benefits
them for that particular purpose. So you have
to look at those things, but generally the inquiry
is whether it is a sincerely-held belief and based
upon all the facts and circumstances, does it appear
to really be sincerely held.”
Wayland threw out a hypothetical situation.
“Let’s say somebody comes up to you and
says they belong to the Eddie Wayland Church
of What’s Happening Now, which provides as a
key tenant of faith that the time from noon Friday
until noon on Monday should be observed
as a religious holiday and religious observance
days during which time they party extensively,
goof off a lot and consume mass quantities of
alcohol and food. And they tell you because they
are a member of that church, they cannot work
for you over the weekend as previously scheduled
because they were just saved and joined
the church last week.”
He continued.
“If you have a legitimate reason for questioning
the sincerity of an applicant’s belief and
as much as it pains me to say this because it’s
the Eddie Wayland Church of What’s Happening
28 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2015