Case Study Of Mamma Jo's Pizza '

1265 Words3 Pages

Mamma Jo’s Pizza should accommodate their employee, Ahmad, and his need due to the fact that he wears his beard specifically for religious reasons. For discrimination based on religion, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Mamma Jo’s Pizza has the duty to “reasonably accommodate” employee’s “sincerely held” religious practices unless doing so would cause undue hardship to Mamma Jo’s business. If wearing a beard is a sincerely held religious practice for Ahmad, then Mamma Jo’s should make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow him to fully practice his religion as long as these adjustments are not more than mere inconvenience. An example of an accommodation that Mamma Jo’s could make is a job reassignment. Mamma Jo’s no beard policy can be argued to be a business necessity for employees dealing with the food, so Ahmad could possibly do other tasks away from the food such as working at the cash register, answering the phone, or other clerical work. b) If Ahmad were terminated for refusing to shave his beard, he could bring the potential claim of religious discrimination against Mamma Jo’s Pizza under Title VII. In order for Ahmad to claim religious discrimination, he needs to show three things in order to establish and prove a prima facie case for disparate treatment. First, he must show that he holds a sincere religious belief that conflicts with a Mamma Jo’s employment requirement. Next, he has to inform Mamma Jo’s about the conflict. Finally, he needs to prove that he was discharged or disciplined for failing to comply with the conflicting no beard employment requirement. 2. a) Mamma Jo’s Pizza should provide accommodations to Ahmad due to the fact that shaving his beard could potentially cause him p... ... middle of paper ... ... eliminate these questions as well, unless there is a good, business-related reason for asking them. Overall, it is best to use only relevant, work-related criteria questions on applications. b) In addition to the suggestions previously stated, I would recommend implementing affirmative action. Due to the fact that 98% of the company employees are young and white, there is a demonstrated underrepresentation of multi-racial and multi-aged employees. Diversity needs to be increased, especially since ACME is located in a multi-racial city. The ACME workplace should reflect the available multi-racial workforce from the city which its employees are drawn. ACME can implement affirmative action by advertising for applicants with nontraditional sources and minority “positions.” Affirmative action plans are great proactive measures to avoid potential discrimination claims.

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