A Jewish worker for a Northwest Airlines carrier claims she was fired for refusing to work on Shabbos. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit last Tuesday against Mesaba Airlines. The woman said she was fired a year ago for refusing to work past sundown on a Friday night at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused Eagan-based Mesaba of requiring a Jewish customer service agent to work past sundown on a Friday evening, the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. The EEOC also alleges that Mesaba turned down a Christian job applicant because he declined to work on Sunday mornings so he could attend church.
The EEOC said it believes other Mesaba workers and job applicants were hurt by the airline’s shift-swapping policy that prohibited workers from making voluntary shift swaps in their first 90 days of employment. Mesaba has since dropped the challenged policy, but the U.S. agency is seeking back pay and punitive damages. Northwest Airlines acquired Mesaba in bankruptcy last year.
(Source: Star Tribune)
' } });
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
