In a lawsuit, federal officials were making daily compulsory Christian prayer sessions for employees of a home renovation company “unbearable” for atheistic construction managers who refused to continue attending.
The boss told him, “He didn’t have to believe in God and he didn’t have to like prayer meetings, He had to participateAccording to complaints filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for Greensboro-based businesses, before workers were dismissed in the fall of 2020. This came after his salary was cut in half.
According to the EEOC, workers were sometimes asked to hold a prayer meeting, even though they shared their beliefs before losing their job at Aurora Pro Services.
The company is currently being sued for religious discrimination and has been accused of punishing workers who do not want to attend meetings. This included Bible readings and roll calls, officials said in a news release on Tuesday, June 28. Meetings have been mandatory since at least June 2020.
This was in 2021 after another worker, a customer service representative, felt that the nearly hour-long meeting had become “cult” and stopped attending due to the beliefs of the unknowable, according to the lawsuit. After being fired in January. .. Agnostics do not commit to any view of the existence of higher religious powers.
McClatchy News contacted the company on June 28 for comment and was waiting for a response.
Aurora Pro Services says on its website, “We never hire rude people and eliminate people who aren’t using their best manners.”
Mandatory meeting
According to complaints, the company’s owner, known for his “quick and confrontational” personality, held a prayer meeting as part of his “business model.” This was the basis for maintaining employment.
However, this requirement is not advertised on the career page of the company’s website, which lists what is expected of those applying to work there.
In daily prayer sessions, workers gathered in a circle, as the company owner or another individual prays. From time to time, the session leader will ask for a prayer request.
According to EEOC, these requests could have been “provided to poorly performing employees” who were asked to make mistakes in front of their colleagues.
When it comes to reading the Bible at the meeting, a former customer service representative said it was a “abuse,” and eventually her boss began chanting “the Catholic Lord’s Prayer all at once” to everyone.
According to the EEOC, he offered to attend part of the meeting before the former construction manager refused to attend the meeting in full.
However, his boss said that attending the entire session “would be in his” best interests “,” the complaint said.
According to EEOC, opposition from atheistic workers halved the base salary prior to the dismissal on September 3, 2020, from $ 800 to $ 400 a week.
Authorities’ lawsuit fines Aurora Pro Services for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects workers from religious discrimination, and gives two ex-workers financial relief. The news release said it wanted.
“Employers who sponsor prayer meetings at work have a legal obligation to deal with employees whose personal religious or spiritual views conflict with company practices,” said a lawyer in Charlotte’s EEOC district. Melinda C. Dugas said in a statement.
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