The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently held that an employee had stated claims upon which relief could be granted based upon allegations that she was terminated after refusing to wear a name badge that listed work rules under a heading that read "Our Ten Commandments".

The employee, a devout Roman Catholic, claims that her termination constituted unlawful discrimination on the basis of religion and retaliation, because she complained that wearing the badge was sacrilegious to her belief that the Bible contains the only true set of commandments and sought accommodation in the form requesting that the company remove the phrase "Our Ten Commandments" from the top of her badge.

In concluding that the plaintiff's second amended complaint stated a claim to relief that is plausible on its face, the court held that the plaintiff clearly alleged that being forced to wear the employer's "Ten Commandments" violated her sincerely held religious beliefs. In so doing the court dismissed the employer's arguments that requiring employees to wear the badge does not conflict with a religious belief because the badge had nothing to do with religion since the phrase "Our Ten Commandments" was used in the vernacular sense, and the "Commandments" were secular employee guidelines with no religious connotation whatsoever. These arguments, the court reasoned, were based on the employer's beliefs as opposed to those of the employee. Read more.