GM Sued For Not Allowing Workers To Take Unpaid Religious Holidays

Two General Motors workers at its Arlington, Texas, assembly plant have sued the company and are seeking class-action status, claiming the company violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying them unpaid religious days off.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Forth Worth, Texas, charged the company with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act "by denying a reasonable religious accommodation" to James Robinson III, a Seventh-day Sabbatarian, and Chris Scruggs, a Messianic Jew, who had previously taken off religious holidays without pay.

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Car4Life - 3/6/2015 2:23:13 PM

+1 Boost

Really??? i'm sure their coworkers whom do not observe religious holidays told them to find another job

There are people who can not get work to begin with and these people are suing over time off on holidays...

Give me a break, we have turned into a Sue-Happy country

JDMUSMuscle - 3/6/2015 10:13:32 PM

+1 Boost

I agree. The U.S. has become a third world country with too many lawsuits.

Those people need to understand the fact that the U.S. is a broke country, and more than 90% of the U.S. population can not afford to lose their job.

TheSteve - 3/6/2015 2:43:48 PM

+1 Boost

Fun Fact: The United States has more lawyers per capita than any other nation in the world.

Are things starting to make more sense?

Sciros - 3/6/2015 3:37:35 PM

+2 Boost

If you want all the unpaid time off in the world, it may be an option to become a contractor instead of a FTE. Depends on the field, of course.

I don't really care how this turns out -- I don't see it as a legal obligation of a company -- but at the same time it's nice when companies aren't dicks about things like this.

MDarringer - 3/6/2015 10:05:22 PM

-1 Boost

More Liberal bullshit driven by the UAW!

atc98092 - 3/6/2015 11:34:04 PM

+1 Boost

You all are forgetting the law that they are citing. It does require businesses to make "reasonable" accommodations for people's religion. Doesn't matter the religion involved, and it doesn't require paid time off. And the company had granted it in the past. Seems they had set a precedent in the past.

That said, there are also reasons that people can be dumb about it. When I started as an Air Traffic Controller, it was with the understanding that I would be working nights, weekends and holidays, at least until I had some seniority to choose my shifts. But I don't have sympathy for anyone that accepts the job, and then comes and says they can't work a specific day of the week or between certain times.

I don't understand why their suit is asking for lost wages, as it sounds like they never got the unpaid time off they wanted. It's possible they are trying to pull something.

I continued my shift work for 23 years until I took a desk job a few years ago so I won't be forced to retire before I wanted to. Now I work straight days Mon-Fri, but I miss my old schedule.