On March 27, 2006, the New York District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Based on a complaint it received, UPS had failed to hire the complainant because he refused to shave his beard that he wears in observance of Rastafarianism. The complainant had applied for a driver helper position with UPS in November of 2004. UPS policy did not allow drivers or driver helpers to have facial hair below the lip. Despite the complainant informing UPS he wore the beard for religious reasons, they refused to consider him for the driver helper position. He alleged that instead, UPS advised him to apply for a lower-paying job that did not involve contact with the public. The EEOC claimed that UPS discriminated against him on the basis of his religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It sought injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and attorneys' fees. The case was eventually assigned to Judge Joel A. Pisano. The complainant subsequently intervened and joined the suit.

The parties engaged in multiple unsuccessful settlement conferences and filed discovery motions over the course of several years. The parties could not come to a settlement agreement and the case went to trial from January 22, 2009 to January 29, 2009. A jury found for the plaintiffs, awarding $10,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress. On February 13, UPS filed for a judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict because UPS had presented an affirmative defense that it had offered the complainant a reasonable accommodation. In the alternative, the defendant requested a new trial because the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding that the complainant had a sincerely held religious belief.

After two settlement conferences regarding injunctive relief and attorney’s fees for the the complainant’s attorney, the defendant's motion was moot. The court granted $128,040.09 in attorney’s fees and $1,449.46 in expenses. Additionally, the parties entered into a one-year consent judgment on November 16, 2009. The judgment required UPS to: revise its electronic employment applications to notify applicants of their option to request accommodation for sincerely-held religious beliefs or practices; amend its appearance guidelines for driver helpers to specify that employees can request religious-belief accommodations; inform new applications of their ability to request exceptions through written request forms; and conduct training on religious accommodation policy and procedure. The consent judgment also included monetary damages of $2,000 for back pay and $8,000 for the EEOC. 2009 WL 3241550.

The case is now closed.

Kevin Wilemon - 05/28/2008
Hannah Basalone - 10/10/2018


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