YMHA to Pay $100,200 to Resolve EEOC Religious Discrimination and Retaliation Charge

NEW YORK – The Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association (YMHA/YWHA) of Washington Heights and Inwood agreed to provide $100,200 to a former employee to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation charge filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s investigation found that the YMHA violated federal law when it failed to provide a Christian employee with a religious accommodation to allow her to attend Sunday services and meetings required of her as a church leader, and then retaliated against her, forcing her to quit in 2022.

“We commend the YMHA for revising its policies and implementing training that will have a lasting impact on employees seeking accommodations for their sincerely held religious beliefs,” said Arlean Nieto, acting director of the EEOC’s New York District Office. “A reminder to employers: Title VII applies to all aspects of an individual’s religious observance, practice and belief. When religion conflicts with a work requirement, employers must provide an accommodation, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.”

The YMHA’s alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination because of an individual’s religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate the employee’s religious observance or practice unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Title VII also prohibits retaliation by an employer because a worker engaged in protected activity, such as making a request for a religious accommodation.

Following the EEOC’s investigation, the parties engaged in the EEOC’s pre-litigation conciliation process, resulting in a conciliation agreement. In addition to the monetary relief paid to the employee, the YMHA agreed to revise its written policies, clearly setting forth procedures for requesting religious accommodations; conduct annual anti-discrimination training for all human resources, supervisory and non-supervisory staff, with a specific focus on religious accommodations; report to the EEOC requests for religious accommodations and complaints of religious discrimination and retaliation; and post EEOC notices, including a notice regarding the resolution of this matter, in a conspicuous place. The EEOC will monitor compliance with the agreement for two and a half years.

For more information on religious discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/religious-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s New York District Office has jurisdiction over New York, northern New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.