AT&T TO PAY $756,000 FOR RELIGIOUS BIAS AGAINST JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

PRESS RELEASE
10-23-07

EEOC Wins Jury Verdict for Two Fired Customer Service Technicians

JONESBORO, Ark. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a favorable jury verdict of $756,000 in a religious discrimination lawsuit brought against AT&T Inc. on behalf of two male customer service technicians who were suspended and fired for attending a Jehovah's Witnesses Convention.

The jury of nine women and three men awarded the two former employees, Jose Gonzalez and Glenn Owen (brothers-in-law), $296,000 in back pay and $460,000 in compensatory damages under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. During the four-day trial, the jury heard evidence that both men had submitted written requests to their manager in January 2005 for one day of leave to attend a religious observance that was scheduled for Friday, July 15, to Sunday, July 17, 2005. Both men testified that they had sincerely held religious beliefs that required them to attend the convention each year. Both men had attended the convention every year throughout their employment with AT&T -- Gonzalez worked at the company for more than eight years and Owen was employed there for nearly six years.

Commenting on the case, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jonesboro Division (Case No. 3:06-cv-00176), before Judge Leon Holmes, former employee Joe Gonzalez said, "I am very pleased with the jury's verdict." Glenn Owen added, "I'm glad that the justice system works and that the jury saw what was going on and corrected it."

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees' and applicants' sincerely held religious beliefs as long as this does not pose an undue hardship.

"In this case, AT&T forced Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Owen to choose between their religion and their job," said Faye A. Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC Memphis District Office. "Title VII does not require that an employee make that choice in order to maintain gainful employment."

EEOC supervisory Trial Attorney William Cash, Jr., who tried the case with agency attorney Darin Tuggle, said, "Protecting the rights of employees to be free from religious discrimination is an important part of the EEOC's mission."

Religious discrimination charge filings (allegations) reported to EEOC offices nationwide have substantially increased from 1,388 in Fiscal Year 1992 to 2,541 in FY 2006. The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

This page was last modified on October 24, 2007.