E.E.O.C. v. Texas Hydraulics, Inc., 1:06-CV-161.

583 F.Supp.2d 904

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. TEXAS HYDRAULICS, INC., Defendant.

No. 1:06-CV-161.

United States District Court, E.D. Tennessee, at Chattanooga.

April 16, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Faye A. Williams, Steven W. Dills, Deidre Smith, United States of America, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Memphis, TN, Sally Ramsey, United States of America, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.

Karen Neely, Mitchell S. Allen, Powell Goldstein, LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HARRY S. MATTICE, JR., District Judge.

Plaintiff Equal Opportunity Employment Commission brings this action on behalf of Keith Vogeler, alleging that Defendant Texas Hydraulics, Inc.'s refusal to accommodate Mr. Vogeler's religious beliefs was an unlawful employment practice in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.2000e et seq., and a violation of Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq.

Before the Court is Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Court Doc. 35]. For the reasons discussed below, Defendant's motion is DENIED.

I. STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the facts contained in the record and all inferences that can be drawn from those facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Nat'l Satellite Sports, Inc. v. Eliadis Inc., 253 F.3d 900, 907 (6th Cir.2001). The Court cannot weigh the evidence, judge the credibility of witnesses, or determine the truth of any matter in dispute. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). To refute such a showing, the nonmoving party must present some significant, probative evidence indicating the necessity of a trial for resolving a material factual dispute. Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. A mere scintilla of evidence is not enough. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505; McLean v. 988011 Ontario, Ltd., 224 F.3d 797, 800 (6th Cir.2000). The Court's role is limited to determining whether the case contains sufficient evidence from which a jury could reasonably find for the nonmoving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Nat'l Satellite Sports, 253 F.3d at 907. If the nonmoving party fails to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of its case with respect to which it has the burden of proof, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. If the Court concludes that a fair-minded jury could not return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party based on the evidence presented, it may enter a summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Lansing Dairy, Inc. v. Espy, 39 F.3d 1339, 1347 (6th Cir.1994).

II. FACTS

The facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff, are as follows.

Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brings this action on behalf of Keith Vogeler. Vogeler was employed by Defendant Texas Hydraulics, Inc. as a production employee for in excess of ten years. (Court Doc. 35-4, Deposition of Keith Vogeler ("Vogeler Dep."), p. 112.) Defendant manufactures hydraulic cylinders at its plant in Athens, Tennessee. (Id. at 150-51.)

Vogeler has a sincerely held religious belief that the Sabbath is to be observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. (Id. at 113.) He believes it is a sin for anyone to work on the Sabbath and, even if offered a million dollars, he would not work on the Sabbath. (Id. at 183, 38.) At all times relevant to this litigation, Defendant was on full notice of Vogeler's religious beliefs and his refusal to work on Saturday. (Id. at 113.)

Vogeler was originally employed by Defendant as a mill operator. (Court Doc. 51-12 at 2.) When Defendant eliminated the operator position in May 2003, he was transferred to the saws department. (Id.) Six weeks later, to accommodate for his refusal to work on Saturdays, Vogeler was transferred to paint and packaging. (Id.; Vogeler Dep. at 137-38.) As an employee in paint and packaging, Vogeler was not required to work on Saturdays until February 2004. (Id. at 162.)

In 2004 and 2005, Defendant's business increased nearly 150%. (Court Doc. 35-13, Declaration of Elmer "Rod" Taylor, ¶¶ 4-5.) To increase production to meet the increased demand, Defendant began mandating Saturday overtime shifts with increasing frequency. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Although Defendant attempted to hire enough employees to fully staff the plant, it was unable to do so. (Court Doc. 35-6, Deposition of Jacky Cook ("Cook Dep."), p. 74-75.)

When Defendant experienced substantial growth in early 2004, Vogeler's supervisor informed Vogeler that he would be excused from the mandatory Saturday overtime shifts only if he could find someone in his own department that was willing to work for him. (Id. at 29-31, 92; Court Doc. 51-10.) Although Vogeler's supervisor was occasionally able to find someone to fill Vogeler's Saturday shift, he did not look for substitutes outside of Vogeler's department. (Cook Dep. at 45-47; Court Doc. 51-13 at 4; Court Doc. 51-7, Deposition of Scott Underwood ("Underwood Dep."), p. 21.)

Texas Hydraulics has an attendance policy under which an employee is assessed one point for each unexcused absence. (Court Doc. 51-11.) An employee can be terminated once they have accumulated seven points. (Id.) Vogeler was assessed attendance points for his failure to work on seven different Saturdays in January, March, and October 2005.¹ (Court Doc. 51-12 at 6.) Vogeler was terminated on October 24, 2005 for accumulation of points under the attendance policy. (Vogeler Dep. at 112.) It is undisputed that all of the points assessed against Vogeler were for instances in which he refused to work on the Sabbath because of his religious beliefs.

III. ANALYSIS

Plaintiff claims that Defendant's failure to accommodate Vogeler's sincerely held religious beliefs was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (Court Doc. 1 at 1.) Title VII provides, in relevant part:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of his employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees ... in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). Title VII also states: "The term `religion' includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(j).

"The analysis of any religious accommodation case begins with the question of whether the employee has established a prima facie case of religious discrimination." Smith v. Pyro Mining Co., 827 F.2d 1081, 1085 (6th Cir.1987). For purposes of summary judgment, Defendant does not dispute that Plaintiff has established a prima facie case of religious discrimination. (Court Doc. 36 at 17.)

"Once an employee has established a prima facie case, the employer has the burden `to show that it could not reasonably accommodate the employee without undue hardship.'" Tepper v. Potter, 505 F.3d 508, 514 (6th Cir.2007) (quoting Virts v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., 285 F.3d 508, 516 (6th Cir.2002)). "For the purpose of religious accommodations, `[t]o require an employer to bear more than a de minimis cost in order to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs is an undue hardship.'" Id. (quoting Cooper v. Oak Rubber Co., 15 F.3d 1375, 1378 (6th Cir.1994)). "The reasonableness of an employer's attempt at accommodation must be determined on a case-by-case basis and is generally a question of fact for the jury, rather than a question of law for the court." EEOC v. Robert Bosch Corp., 169 Fed.Appx. 942, 944 (6th Cir.2006).

Defendant argues that the issue on summary judgment "has nothing to do with [Defendant's] offered accommodations—it has to do with the fact that accommodating Mr. Vogeler's religious beliefs would have caused an undue burden on [Defendant's] business by way of lost efficiency." (Court Doc. 54 at 2.) This argument, however, misstates the proper analysis. "[T]he Court must first determine what actions, if any, the employer took to accommodate the employee's religious beliefs. It must then determine whether such actions, or any actions suggested by the plaintiff, would constitute undue hardship." Boomsma v. Greyhound Food Management, Inc., 639 F.Supp. 1448, 1453 (W.D.Mich.1986). Both the reasonableness of an offered accommodation, and the amount of effort that an employer put into determining whether a reasonable accommodation was possible, are relevant to whether the defendant has sustained its burden on summary judgment. See Smith v. Pyro Mining Co., 827 F.2d 1081, 1088 (6th Cir.1987).

An employer cannot simply assert that any accommodation...