As a flight attendant Charee Stanley from Detroit was willing to give all her best to perform her duties but what she never expected was to sue her own employer because of the job that she wanted.
Stanley was converted her religion to Islam that made her employment with ExpressJet to carry out became explicitly off-limits, which also cause a rift between her coworkers. Following Islam, beliefs mean that she is not only prohibited from consuming alcohol, but she can’t even touch or sell it. This made affected her duties and position as a flight attendant since its part of her job to serve beer and liquor to passengers.
Due to these religious restrictions, she went to talk to her superior and asked them to understand her situation. Her superiors advised and allowed her that she could ask another colleague to serve passengers who wanted an alcoholic beverage.
Watch it here: Detroit Free Press/video
Stanley didn’t expect that another flight attendant will complain about doing Stanley’s job that caused a big issue with her employer.
The Guardian reported:
Stanley was told that she couldn’t force another flight attendant to perform her work duties and that she either must serve alcohol during these instances or resign. When she refused, Stanley was forced out of her position, prompting her to contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Although an investigation was inconclusive, she maintained the right to sue ExpressJet for discrimination.
Lawsuit Stanley v. ExpressJet alleged that ExpressJet violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not providing reasonable religious accommodation for her. As such, she insisted on the reinstatement of her job, back pay, punitive damages, and compensation for court costs. Thus began Stanley’s long court battle.
However, to her disappointment, the Sixth Court ruled that her lawsuit couldn’t be heard in a federal court due to the fact that the claim posed a conflict between the requested accommodation and collective bargaining.
And according to Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR):
The court decided that the complaint must either be one concerning religious rights in the workplace or workers’ right to unionize. The court concluded that she could only bring her case before a labor arbitrator.
After hearing the Sixth Court ruled Stanley still didn’t give up and she submitted her case to the U.S. Supreme Court in a bid to have the lower court’s decision overturned. However; her second disappointment happened again as the SCOTUS declined to consider whether her claim should be sent to an arbitrator, upholding the Sixth Court’s decision.
SCOTUS said that “disputes over religious accommodation in the workplace must be decided by an arbitrator and that her allegations that her firing was an act of retaliation over her Muslim faith lacked any proof.”
Though businesses have their responsibilities to accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs it’s also the employee’s responsibility not to give hardship to their co-workers because of personal beliefs and reasons. Aside from making the company’s environment toxic, this is only an example that it can also lead to legal actions.
Sources: Taphaps, The Guardian, Travel and Leisure, Yahoo Life, Independent
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