Firm sued for religious discrimination in firing man over fingerprinting

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Minnesota company, alleging discrimination by firing an employee who refused to be fingerprinted on the basis of his Christian faith.

AscensionPoint Recovery Services, which manages debt recovery for creditors, did not look for a way to accommodate Henry Harrington’s religious beliefs before ending his employment, according to the EEOC lawsuit.

The agency says alternatives to fingerprinting are available.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an applicant’s or employee’s religious practice unless it would pose an undue hardship.

“An employee should not have to choose between his faith and his livelihood,” Gregory Gochanour, the EEOC’s regional attorney in the Chicago District Office, said in a news release.

Read More

Additional reading

News category: News Shorts, World.

Tags: , ,