{"id":1998,"date":"2010-02-19T17:51:22","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2010\/02\/eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups.php"},"modified":"2010-02-19T17:51:22","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:51:22","slug":"eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2010\/02\/eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups","title":{"rendered":"EEOC Settles Claim Between UPS, Rastafarian"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (RNS) Shipping giant UPS will pay $46,000 in damages to a Rastafarian employee who was fired after he refused to cut his hair or trim his beard, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday (Feb. 17).
\nAccording to the EEOC, the Harrisburg, Pa., branch of UPS Freight fired a driver, Nieland Bynoe, during orientation after Bynoe declined to shave his beard and cut his hair to comply with the company’s grooming policy.
\nRastafarians, who are popularly often associated with reggae music and ritual marijuana smoking, are prohibited to cut their hair or trim their beards as an article of faith.
\nAfter explaining his beliefs to a human resources manager, Bynoe was fired — a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires employers to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees and applicants unless doing so would impose an undue hardship, the EEOC said.
\n“Our freedom to practice our religious beliefs is a fundamental right in this country,” said Debra Lawrence, acting regional attorney of the EEOC’s Philadelphia office. “Title VII’s obligation for employers to provide a reasonable accommodation … brings that bedrock value of religious freedom into the workplace.”
\nThe EEOC agreement also prohibits UPS Freight from unlawful religious discrimination in the future; mandates anti-discrimination training and requires UPS to post a notice about the settlement with employees.
\nIn 2006, the EEOC sued UPS for refusing to hire a Rastafarian as an assistant driver in Newark, N.J.
\nBy Kimberlee Hauss
\nCopyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (RNS) Shipping giant UPS will pay $46,000 in damages to a Rastafarian employee who was fired after he refused to cut his hair or trim his beard, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday (Feb. 17). According to the EEOC, the Harrisburg, Pa., branch of UPS Freight fired a driver, Nieland Bynoe, during orientation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEEOC Settles Claim Between UPS, Rastafarian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2010\/02\/eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EEOC Settles Claim Between UPS, Rastafarian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON (RNS) Shipping giant UPS will pay $46,000 in damages to a Rastafarian employee who was fired after he refused to cut his hair or trim his beard, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday (Feb. 17). According to the EEOC, the Harrisburg, Pa., branch of UPS Freight fired a driver, Nieland Bynoe, during orientation…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2010\/02\/eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-19T17:51:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nsymmonds\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EEOC Settles Claim Between UPS, Rastafarian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2010\/02\/eeoc-settles-claim-between-ups","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EEOC Settles Claim Between UPS, Rastafarian","og_description":"WASHINGTON (RNS) Shipping giant UPS will pay $46,000 in damages to a Rastafarian employee who was fired after he refused to cut his hair or trim his beard, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday (Feb. 17). 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