EEOC Sues Gravity Autos for Religious Discrimination

ATLANTA — Gravity Autos, a conglomerate of car dealerships with locations in Georgia, Florida and Illinois, violated federal law when it denied a reasonable religious accommodation to a sales employee and then fired him for opposing the unlawful denial, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee, who belongs to a Hebrew Israelite congregation, informed his manager when he was hired that he could not work on High Holy Days or during his weekly Saturday Sabbath. Although the manager initially approved the requested schedule, the lawsuit claims that the manager later required that the employee work on Saturdays because it would otherwise be “unfair” to other employees. The employee declined to work on Saturdays and told the manager that the instruction amounted to religious discrimination. Upon the employee’s complaint of discriminatory treatment, the manager immediately terminated him, the EEOC said.

“Federal law requires employers to reasonably accommodate their employees’ sincere religious beliefs when doing so would not impose an undue hardship,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District. “Concerns about the reaction of other employees to a requested accommodation will not necessarily constitute a substantial burden in the overall context of an employer’s business.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to reasonably accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees, and which prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing unlawful discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Hermes USA Inc., et al., Case No. 1:26-cv-3652) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Darrell E. Graham, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District, said, “Employees should not be forced to unnecessarily choose between their faith and their work. The EEOC is committed to ensuring that employees’ religious beliefs are treated with the dignity demanded by Title VII.”

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 Atlanta District Office has jurisdiction over Georgia and the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg in South Carolina.

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.