US firm fined $70,000 for requesting Muslim employee to shave beard

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency, stated Monday that Blackwell Security Services Inc., a company in the United States, will pay $70,000 and offer other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC said that Blackwell forced an employee to unnecessarily choose between his religious beliefs and his job because it refused to respect his religious practices. The employee, who was employed by the EEOC as a concierge in Chicago, Illinois, is said to be a devout Muslim who respects his faith by shaving his beard. A supervisor at Blackwell informed him shortly after he started working there that it was company policy for all staff members to be clean-shaven.

To comply with his religious beliefs, the worker asked for a policy exemption. Despite the fact that the company would not incur any expenses or operational burdens in accommodating his religious practice, Blackwell advised him to cut his beard or face termination. The worker complied and shaved his beard to save his job, which caused him a great deal of distress.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964's Title VII forbids discrimination based on religion and mandates that employers make a reasonable effort to accommodate an employee's religious observance or practice, unless doing so would place an excessive burden on the business. The alleged behaviour in question violates this provision. After first seeking to achieve a pre-litigation settlement through its mediation process, the EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-14110). 

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