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Greene County Man Files Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

By Tasha Kates

Published: January 21, 2009

A Greene County man has sued his former employer alleging that he was discriminated against because of his religion and fired after he contacted a federal agency.
Jeffery King, a pastor at Rosehill Baptist Church in Albemarle County, filed suit against Cardinal Health Inc. on Jan. 7 in Charlottesville’s federal court. The suit claims that Cardinal Health violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 by discriminating against him because of his religion and retaliating by firing him after he contacted the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In September, the EEOC filed a suit against the Ohio-based medical supply company on behalf of Howard Thompson, a Sabbatarian who claimed he was fired because he refused to work on his holy day. Both the EEOC’s and King’s suit reference a policy change at the Charlottesville branch in April 2006 that required employees to work Sundays.

Jennifer McKeever, King’s attorney, said he enjoyed working for Cardinal’s pharmacy services facility.
“I believe that my client acted reasonably and attempted to work with the company,” McKeever said. “As you can tell from the complaint, he wants his job back.”

King declined to comment, referring all questions to McKeever.
According to the lawsuit, King is an ordained Baptist minister who told his employer when he was hired in 2001 that he could not work Sundays because of his religious beliefs and obligations. King’s suit said that after the company changed its policy, he was told he could have off on Sundays if he could find other people to cover his shifts. However, King said the company wanted the employees to sign a statement saying that they would work all of his Sundays, but not all of them would sign the document.

King received a letter from human resources while he was on vacation that outlined how the company had tried to accommodate his beliefs, the complaint said, but King said the letter referenced potential accommodations that hadn’t been offered to him.
When he returned from vacation, King said, he left messages saying he would work Saturdays instead of Sundays, but King said in the suit that the human resources manager refused that option. King was fired in July 2006.

Troy Kirkpatrick, a spokesman for Cardinal Health, said the company tried to accommodate King.
“Cardinal Health offered Mr. King reasonable accommodations to address his concerns, which he refused,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re confident that the company fully complies with the spirit and the letter of the law relating to this issue.”

According to the complaint, King is seeking to be reinstated with back pay and/or other compensation.
John W. Whitehead, founder of the Albemarle County-based Rutherford Institute, said a business is required to make reasonable accommodations for an employee with religious needs unless it can show undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations include another person filling in for the employee.
Whitehead, who also is the president of the human rights and civil liberties organization, said larger companies tend to lose suits against people who have sincerely held religious beliefs.

“Most companies don’t know the law,” Whitehead said. “By the time they have the problem, it’s the first time they’ve looked at the law.”

Whitehead also said that many companies don’t understand deeply religious people, and should have a liaison who can explain their religious beliefs and needs.

Kirkpatrick said Cardinal Health employs about 40,000 people globally.

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