The EEOC charged United Parcel Service with violating federal law by discriminating against applicants and employees whose religious practices conflicted with its uniform and appearance policy.
UPS, the nation’s largest package delivery company, prohibits male employees who have contact with customers or who are supervisors from wearing beards or growing their hair below collar length, according to a complaint by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Since at least 2004, the company has failed to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices conflict with its appearance policy and to provide religious accommodations to it at facilities throughout the US, the agency said July 15.
It gave as an example a Muslim who applied for a driver helper position in Rochester, N.Y., and who wears a beard as part of his religious observance.
He was told that “God would understand” if he shaved his beard to get a job, and that he could apply for a lower-paying job if he wanted to keep his beard, the EEOC said.
“UPS respects religious differences and is confident in the legality of its employment practices,” the company’s public relations director, Susan Rosenberg, told Advisen. “UPS has for many years had protocols for employees to request religious accommodations, including variations for appearance and grooming guidelines.”
She said that the company’s automated job application forms specifically reference religious accommodation, and that UPS would “defend its practices that demonstrate a proven track record for accommodation.”
But the EEOC said Muslims and Christians at other UPS facilities were forced to shave their beards in violation of their religious beliefs while they waited months or years for the company to act on their requests for religious accommodation.
“No person should be forced to choose between their religion and a paycheck, and EEOC will seek to put an end to that longstanding practice at UPS,” said Robert D. Rose, the regional attorney for EEOC’s New York District Office.
The EEOC said it filed suit in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process with UPS.
The agency seeks injunctive relief, including modification of the company’s practices relating to religious accommodations. The suit also seeks lost wages and compensatory and punitive damages for aggrieved individuals.
The agency offered as another example of discrimation at UPS a Rastafarian part-time load supervisor in Fort Lauderdale, who does not cut his hair as part of his religious beliefs but who asked for an accommodation to the appearance policy.
His manager told him he did not “want any employees looking like women on (his) management team,” the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which the EEOC enforces. The law prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
