A company which terminated an employee for exceeding his unpaid leave limit due to his religious observances did not discriminate against him because of his religion, the Fourth Circuit rules. The company had considered several accommodations to the employee’s need to avoid working on his weekly Sabbath and other religious holidays, but could not move the employee to a different shift or position because of his lack of seniority or required skills.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, taking the case on behalf of the terminated worker, had argued that an employer provides a reasonable accommodation only when it “eliminate[s] the conflict between the religious practice and the work requirement.” The Court rejects this view, stating that the requirement in Title VII to “reasonably accommodate” religious observances means just that: “If Congress had wanted to require employers to provide complete accommodation absent undue hardship, it could easily have done so. For instance, Congress could have used the words ‘totally’ or ‘completely,’ instead of ‘reasonably.’” The EEOC had further contended that the company should have allowed the worker more unpaid leave time than permitted by its policy. The Court, however, agreed with the company’s argument that given the frequency of the employee’s time-off requests and the nature of his job, the additional time off would have imposed an unfair burden on his fellow employees. EEOC v. Firestone Fibers.