Got this but the sender didn't have the original article or what paper it came from(typical witness followup on facts.) Is this true has anyone heard of this story?
AT&T Must Pay Fired Jehovah's Witnesses $756,000 in Bias Case
By Carlyn Kolker
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. telephone company, must pay $756,000 to two former technicians who were denied time off to attend a Jehovah's Witness meeting, a federal jury in Arkansas decided.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued AT&T last year, claiming the San Antonio-based company denied Glenn Owen and Jose Gonzalez a "reasonable accommodation" of their religious beliefs when it fired them after they asked to attend a Jehovah's Witness convention in Little Rock. The two men had "sincerely held religious beliefs" and had attended the convention previously, according to the EEOC complaint.
The jury awarded Gonzalez $136,000 in lost wages and benefits and $230,000 in additional damages. Owen was awarded $160,000 in lost wages and benefits and $230,000 in additional damages. The verdict, delivered on Oct. 19, was entered yesterday, according to the court docket.
"Protecting the rights of employees to be free from religious discrimination is an important part of the EEOC's mission," William Cash Jr., an attorney with the agency, said in a press release today. The EEOC enforces U.S. laws barring workplace discrimination.
"We respectfully disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal," AT&T spokesman Dave Pacholczyk said.
The case is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southwestern Bell, 3:06-cv-00176, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas ( Jonesboro ).
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlyn Kolker in New York at [email protected] . Last Updated: October 23, 2007 18:13 EDT
Is this true? another witness E-mail
by darth frosty 10 Replies latest jw friends
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darth frosty
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wunce_wuz
Looks like it might be true....
AT&T Inc. must pay $756,000 to two former technicians who were denied time off to attend a Jehovah's Witness meeting, a federal jury in Arkansas decided. -- http://www.topix.com/metro/little-rock-north-little-rock-ar/2007/10/at-t-told-to-pay-2-jehovahs-witnesses
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Gopher
AT&T messed up big time on this one. Probably the best they can hope for is to get the award amount reduced.
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Junction-Guy
What really ticks me off about this, is that these 2 people were awarded an extravagant amount of money for one single incident, yet we as XJW's cant hardly get squat for the life damages done to us as JW's..
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darth frosty
WOW. I thought it was a phony story. Thanx for your assistance.
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purplesofa
so how much time off does a person get to ask off for religious reasons???
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Gopher
Usually a company should allow their employees to take part of their annual paid leave for special reasons.
One place I worked before allowed one floating holiday, in addition to annual paid leave, to be used for religious observances and the like. Jews could use that floating holiday to celebrate Yom Kippur, for example.
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John Doe
I've got no problem with this verdict.
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mkr32208
Well since AT&T just fired G two months ago for filing a sexual harrassment complaint with their HR dept I've got a problem with it! How do we get these lawyers to fight for us?