Dive Brief:

• Atlanta-based United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) violated federal law by discriminating against applicants and employees across the country whose religious practices conflicted with its uniform and appearance policy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a recent lawsuit.
• UPS prohibits male employees in customer contact or supervisory positions from wearing beards or growing their hair below collar length.
• According to EEOC's complaint, since at least 2004 UPS has failed to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices conflict with its appearance policy and has failed to provide religious accommodations to its appearance policy at facilities throughout the United States. In various media reports, UPS denies it discriminates based on religion.

Dive Insight:

As part of its action, the EEOC offered the example of a Muslim who applied for a driver helper position in Rochester, N.Y., who wears a beard as part of his religious observance. He was told he had to shave to get the position. He was also told, "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.

According to the EEOC, such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's sincerely-held religious beliefs unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.

"UPS has persistently enforced its appearance policy even when that policy conflicts with the religious beliefs of its applicants and employees," said Robert Rose, the regional attorney for EEOC's New York District Office. "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."

In June, the US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that Abercrombie & Fitch violated a Muslim woman’s religious rights when it refused to hire her for a store sales job because she wore a headscarf. The EEOC's UPS lawsuit seeks back pay, other damages and new policies to end religious discrimination.