1. Resolving job-related religious conflicts can be among the most emotionally demanding management dilemmas. For example, what challenges would you face as a manager if one of your subordinates, as an expression of her religious beliefs, wore to work an antiabortion button displaying a picture of a fetus? How would you address these challenges?
2. Yisrael worked as a dump truck driver for a North Carolina company providing paving, grading, and utility services for transportation projects. As a member of the Hebrew Israelite faith, Yisrael observed Sabbath on Saturday. After refusing to work three different Saturdays, he was terminated. The EEOC filed a lawsuit on behalf of Yisrael. What further information would you need to decide this case? Explain.
3. An Oklahoma lighting company, Voss, advertised a vacancy for an “operations supervisor” position at its Tulsa location through the website of a Tulsa-area church attended by a Voss supervisor. Wolfe, who had prior operations management experience, learned about the vacancy and applied for the position although he did not himself attends the church. Most of the job interview concerned Wolfe’s religious activities and beliefs and whether he “would have a problem” coming into work early to attend Bible study before clocking in. The branch manager seemed hesitant to accept Wolf’s answers as truthful. At the time Wolfe was interviewed, Voss had no viable candidates for the position being filled. Wolfe was not offered the job, and after continuing its search, the company hired an individual whose religious ideology matched that of the company’s leadership. Wolfe filed an EEOC religious discrimination complaint. 68 Decide. Explain.
Kimberly Cloutier was employed as a cashier at Costco in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The store revised its dress code in 2001 to prohibit all facial jewelry other than earrings. Cloutier, a member of the “Church of Body Modification,” was advised to remove her facial piercings. She declined to do so saying that her piercings were part of her religion. The church’s approximately 1,000 members engaged in such practices as piercing, tattooing, branding, and cutting. Eventually, Cloutier was fired. She sued Costco claiming she was a victim of religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Costco, however, prevailed when the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2004 that excusing Cloutier from the dress code would be an undue hardship for Costco because the company had a legitimate interest in presenting to the public a workforce that was reasonably professional in appearance.64