How Does the Antichrist Relate to Job Bias?

Sometimes an idiosyncratic case makes an important and more general point.

The Facts in EEOC v. Consol Energy (4^th Cir. 2017): Beverly Butcher, a 37- year employee at a Pennsylvania coal mine, had a sincere belief in the Antichrist. He got into trouble with his employer after his religious accommodation request was denied.

Mr. Butcher believes that a mark on his right hand is tantamount to the “Mark of the Beast,” and therefore shows allegiance to the Antichrist.  

The Company implemented a new hand-screen system that involved a biometric marker on everyone’s right hand. Mr. Butcher offered to check in with his shift supervisor or punch in on a time clock, but his employer insisted on scanning his hand or imposing discipline.

Forced to choose between a hand scan and a future of fire and brimstone in Hell, Mr. Butcher retired.

Later, he learned that the Company offered two employees with hand injuries alternate methods to track time.

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $590,000 jury verdict against Consol Energy Inc. for Mr. Butcher to retire because it would not accommodate his evangelical Christian beliefs. The three-judge panel concluded, “It is not Consol’s place as an employer, nor ours as a court, to question the correctness or even the plausibility of Butcher’s religious understandings."

The court added that the only relevant inquiry about Butcher’s beliefs is whether they are sincere, which the jury found they were.

The lesson? If an employee makes a highly unusual request for a religious accommodation, the employer can only consider whether the request reflects a sincerely held belief.

The court did not address whether an alternate method of tracking time would be unduly burdensome for the employer. In this case, Consol made no attempt to consider an accommodation. (Other cases establish that an employer need only consider a “de minimis” accommodation.)