Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Autonation USA Corp.

MEMORANDUM **

In this employment discrimination case, the EEOC appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of AutoNation USA Corporation (“Auto-Nation”). The EEOC filed suit against AutoNation, contending that it violated Title VII by failing to reasonably accommodate the religious beliefs of Nicholas Thompson (“Thompson”), one of its former employees, after scheduling Thompson, a devout Christian, to work on Sundays. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that employers provide reasonable accommodation to employees who have religious beliefs that conflict with their employment responsibilities, unless the employer can show that the accommodation would either unduly burden the employer or other employees. 42 U.S.C.A. *329 § 2000e, et. seq., as amended; Bhatia v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 734 F.2d 1382, 1383-84 (9th Cir.1984). Title VII religious discrimination claims are analyzed under a two-part framework under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). Lawson v. Washington, 296 F.3d 799, 804 (9th Cir.2002); see also Opuku-Boateng v. State of California, 95 F.3d 1461, 1467 (9th Cir.1996). First, the…

dissenting.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the EEOC, as we must under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56, there are genuine triable issues of fact as to whether Auto-Nation made good faith efforts to accommodate Thompson’s religious beliefs. *330 Disputed issues of fact also remain with respect to whether an accommodation would have constituted an undue hardship on AutoNation and its employees. Without resolving the factual disputes regarding whether a reasonable accommodation was even offered, I cannot agree with the majority that Thompson short-circuited the accommodation process and therefore I respectfully dissent.

Contrary to the majority’s characterization of the accommodation issue as arising the same day that Thompson resigned, Thompson testified at his deposition that he attempted to initiate discussions regarding a reasonable accommodation in mid-March as soon as he learned of the new schedule requiring him to work on Sundays. According to Thompson, despite his request for some kind of accommodation before Easter Sunday, AutoNation refused to engage in any discussions about accommodation until he returned after missing work on Easter Sunday. Thompson further…