EEOC v. Southwestern Bell Telephone

**Court Rules for Jehovah's Witness Employees Fired for Religious Observance** This case involved two Jehovah's Witness employees at Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T) who were fired after refusing to work on a day when they needed to attend a required religious convention. The employees, Gonzalez and Owen, asked their employer to accommodate their religious beliefs by allowing them time off for this important religious obligation. The company refused their request and terminated both workers when they chose to attend the convention instead of reporting to work. The court sided with the employees, ruling that AT&T violated federal civil rights law by failing to reasonably accommodate their workers' religious beliefs and wrongfully firing them. A jury awarded substantial damages: $396,000 to Gonzalez and $390,000 to Owen, totaling $786,000. The court also ordered the company to reinstate both employees and provide additional compensation for lost wages. This ruling matters because it reinforces that employers must make reasonable efforts to accommodate workers' sincere religious practices, including time off for religious observances. Workers cannot be fired simply for requesting religious accommodations, and companies that fail to engage in good-faith discussions about such requests face significant financial penalties.