In June 2006, the EEOC's Charlotte District Office (with participation from the Raleigh Area Office) filed this suit against Native Angels Homecare Agency, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The complaint alleged discrimination on the basis of religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the defendant forced the charging party, a female employee, to participate in its "prayer circle" in violation of her religion, Jehovah's Witness. In addition, the defendant retaliated against the charging party by terminating her when she refused to participate in the "prayer circle." The parties participated in some discovery before settling the case in March 2007 through a consent decree.

The three-year decree, containing both non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to provide the charging party with a neutral reference, expunge her personnel file of all references to discrimination, and pay her $25,000. In addition, the defendant was prohibited from forcing any employee to participate in a religion-based activity as a condition of employment. The defendant also agreed to: develop and distribute an anti-discrimination policy, post a copy of the policy, provide annual Title VII training for all employees, and report to the EEOC on its compliance every six months.
The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement; the case was presumably closed in 2010.

Michele Marxkors - 06/07/2007


compress summary