On August 4th, 1999, the the United States Department of Justice ("D.O.J.") filed a lawsuit under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., against the City of Winter Springs, Florida in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The DOJ sought injunctive relief and compensatory damages, alleging that the defendant violated Title VII by discriminating against a former employee of the City of Winter Springs Fire Department on the basis of religion.

The employee was a member of Branhamism (a fundamentalist Christian religion), whose practices include not displaying or participating in the display of decorations commonly associated with Christmas, not watching television, wearing conservative dress in public, daily reading of the bible, and listening to religious audio tapes. The complaint alleges that the defendant was aware of these religious observances, and despite this knowledge, ordered the employee to prepare Christmas decorations for display at the fire station. Furthermore, the defendant formally disciplined the employee after he complied, but told his supervisors that he did not want to take further part in similar activities. The employee was eventually discharged from employment.

A settlement agreement was reached. It states that the charging party accepted a sum of thirty thousand dollars in compensation, that the defendant acknowledges that it shall not engage in any act or practice discriminates on the basis of religion, and that the defendant shall not retaliate against any person.

The case was closed on August 14th, 2000.

Jennifer Hau - 11/11/2007


compress summary