Here’s the scenario:

In 2004, an employee at a discount department store reached out about the possibility of suing his employer due to religious persecution. As an employee for over eight years at the department store, he requested Friday nights off for religious reasons. The store denied the time off request, and his hours were then cut to below 20 hours a week.

As a separate issue, he noted that his store manager received a fax from his doctor noting that due to his diabetes he should have a set work schedule to help regulate his meals, medication and blood sugar. He complained that the store manager forced him to work for a month knowing that his health would be at risk. He claims that he was hospitalized twice before because of a strenuous work schedule in unsafe work conditions.

Oddly enough, at the end of his note he mentions a series of unrelated, random facts about: being in a wheelchair, not able to use the phone, owning a dog that bites, and his wife being available on Wednesday to speak by phone.

Our thoughts*:

This gentleman’s letter touched upon a variety of workplace issues, but we’ll try to address them all.

He initially wrote in for advice about filing a lawsuit against his workplace because of religious persecution. Religious persecution is generally viewed as the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals in response to their religious beliefs, so that may not be the correct terminology to explain his case. However, federal and state laws prohibit employers to discriminate on the basis of religious orientation. Employers are required to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious practices, but are not required to accept all of the employee’s requests. His employer cutting his hours to 20 a week may have been an attempt to accommodate for his need to take off Friday evenings. Either way, the general rule of thumb when requesting time off for personal or religious reasons is to plan well enough in advance to give notice and mainly have your responsibilities completed in advance or taken over by a trusted colleague.

His illness of diabetes appears to flag his issue of regulating his meals, medication and blood sugar around his work schedule. The doctor’s note he gave to his manager states that a set work schedule would help him with this issue. Given that most department stores organize multiple employees around set schedules, it’s a possibility that the manager believed that the schedule worked for his needs. An open line of communication between himself and his manager may have helped the manager understand his challenge.

Employees today can consult the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to determine if their rights in the workplace are being violated. Employees can protect their rights to work in a safe environment by: 1) Calling Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency telephone line at 800-321-OSHA (6742) if there’s a hazard in the workplace that causes an imminent threat; 2) Filing a claim for workers’ compensation benefits for any related medical bills incurred; 3) Informing the employer of the hazardous condition(s); and 4) If the problem still exists, then filing a complaint with OSHA.

What do you think?

With the facts this gentleman presented, would he have had a legitimate cause to complain about his hours being cut and his manager not adhering to his doctor’s orders? Or was he trying to work the system and looking for a way to get rich quick by suing the company for grievances?

Posted by Adrienne on October 14, 2009 at 5:51 pm.

* Our in house attorneys helped us formulate this opinion. Although this is advice from lawyer(s), this is not legal advice. Always consult a lawyer for legal matters.

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