Seyfarth Synopsis: Title VII requires employers to make "reasonable accommodations" for an employee's religious practices. But what is "reasonable" has been the subject of much debate and litigation. The Tenth Circuit's decision in Christmon v. B&B Airparts, Inc., No. 17-3209, 2018 WL 2344628, at *1 (10th Cir. May 24, 2018) is a good reminder that an accommodation may be reasonable — even if it is not the employee's preference. What matters is that the employee is allowed to engage in his or her religious practice.
In Christmon v. B&B Airparts, Inc., an employee sued his former employer under Title VII, claiming that his employer failed to accommodate his religious practices by not allowing him to change his overtime shifts from Saturday to Sunday so that he could observe the Saturday Sabbath. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit held that allowing the employee to skip Saturday shifts was a reasonable accommodation and that the employer was not obligated to provide an opportunity for overtime on Sunday.
The Decision
B&B Airparts requires its employees to occasionally work overtime shifts on Saturdays. Id. Jerome Christmon, a Hebrew Israelite, regards Saturday as the Sabbath and consequently requested to work his overtime hours on Sunday. But rather than allow Christmon to work his overtime hours on Sunday, B&B simply allowed him to skip mandatory Saturday overtime shifts without any disciplinary action.
Christmon sued B&B Airparts in the U.S. District Court for the District Court of Kansas, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming discrimination for failure to accommodate religious practices. Specifically, Christmon claimed that B&B Airparts was required to provide him with overtime hours on Sunday.
The District Court disagreed and granted summary judgment in favor of B&B Airparts, holding that B&B Airparts provided a reasonable accommodation by allowing him to miss his Saturday shifts. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed.
According to the Tenth Circuit, the undisputed evidence showed that B&B Airparts allowed Christmon to skip mandatory Saturday shifts after he had explained his religious concern. "This relief," the Tenth Circuit concluded, "constituted a reasonable accommodation . . . ." Id. at *2.
Rejecting Christmon's arguments, the Tenth Circuit explained that a "reasonable accommodation does not necessarily spare an employee from any resulting cost" and "may be reasonable even though it is not the one that the employee prefers." Id. Rather, "'[a]ccomodate . . . means allowing the plaintiff to engage in [his] religious practice despite the employer's normal rules to the contrary.'" Id. Hence, although Christmon requested an opportunity to make up his overtime hours on Sunday, the Tenth Circuit determined that "Title VII did not require B&B Airparts to offer Mr. Christmon's preferred accommodation." Id. at *3.
Important to this conclusion was the Supreme Court's decision in Ansonia Bd. of Educ. v. Philbrook, 479 U.S. 60, 70 (1986). There, the Supreme Court held that an unpaid leave that allows an individual to observe religious holy days is a reasonable accommodation because it avoids the "conflict between employment requirements and religious practices." Id.
At the end of the day, B&B 's accommodation was reasonable because it "allowed Mr. Christmon to avoid the conflict with his religious beliefs even if he lost the opportunity for overtime." Id.
Implication For Employers
The Tenth Circuit's decision is a good reminder for employers of the parameters of their obligation under Title VII to provide a reasonable accommodation for religious practices. A reasonable accommodation does not necessarily have to be the employee's first choice. Nor does it have to be free from any resulting cost to the employee. A reasonable accommodation, however, should effectively avoid the conflict between the employee's religious practice and the employer's requirements.
Of course, the first step in providing an accommodation is recognizing when there is a conflict between an employer's requirements and an employee's religious practice. Employers should therefore be sure to provide a mechanism for their employees to express concerns over perceived conflicts or otherwise request a religious accommodation.
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