Every day across the south workers are killed on the job, stolen from, discriminated against, or sexually harassed. Sometimes the employers are caught. Here are a few stories from last week:
Louisiana Discriminators
The Cogar Group, Ltd., a Fairfax, Virginia-based security services company operating in several states, violated federal law when it failed to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs, instead forcing him to choose between attending services at his church and keeping his position as a security guard, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in February 2024, The Cogar Group told the security guard, a disabled veteran who had worked for the company in New Orleans part-time with Sundays off since March 2021, that his schedule would be changed to Saturday and Sunday. The security guard told his supervisor that the new schedule would interfere with his religious beliefs because he is a devout Baptist and a deacon, and his faith requires him to attend church on Sundays. The Cogar Group refused to alter the new schedule to accommodate his religious obligations, and the security guard was forced to resign.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from failing to accommodate religious practices unless an accommodation would impose an undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
Florida Discriminators
BestBet Jacksonville, Inc., the largest poker room in Florida, violated federal law when it failed to offer reasonable accommodations to a class of pregnant employees and forced them to quit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the suit, BestBet maintained a strict policy requiring employees to resign if they missed two weeks or more of work and do not otherwise qualify for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. When one woman with a high-risk pregnancy requested to miss six shifts over a two-and-a-half-week period in January 2025 on the advice of her doctor, BestBet forced her to quit. BestBet forced another employee to leave the company in February 2025 after she requested leave to have her baby, the lawsuit said.
“Federal law makes it unlawful for employers to refuse to make a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a pregnant worker, absent undue hardship,” said Kristen Foslid, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Miami District Office. “Employers must engage in an interactive dialogue with employees to find suitable accommodations, rather than simply denying the requests outright.”
This alleged conduct violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ and applicants’ known limitations related to pregnancy and childbirth, absent undue hardship, including accommodations requiring modification of the employer’s application of its policies limiting use of leave. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
Mississippi Discriminators
Smoke BBQ, LLC, and Thorny Oyster, LLC, operators of Cosmos Restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, will pay significant monetary damages and provide other relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Cosmos fired a female server in November 2023 the day after the company learned of her pregnancy. The worker had held her position for less than a week when Cosmos terminated her.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.