EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: Convergys Corp Sued for Refusing to Hire Employee who cannot Work on Saturdays

March 3, 2011

St. Louis, Missouri – The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Convergys Corporation, a global provider of customer relationship management services, after it refused to hire a call center employee who could not work on Saturdays due to his religion.

The lawsuit stemmed from a complaint filed by Shannon Fantroy who said he applied for a customer service position at Convergy’s call center in Hazelwood. A recruiter told him that he would have to work weekends but Fantroy told the recruiter that he could not, as his religious belief required him to observe Sabbath from sunup to sundown on Saturday and he could not conduct business on this hours.

The recruiter terminated the interview and Fantroy was told that it is over unless he could work on Saturdays.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit in the federal district court for Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis. The lawsuit is seeking front pay, back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief, which include training for all Convergys recruiters on religious accommodations.

The EEOC said the company should have provided reasonable accommodation to the employee and could have avoided a religious discrimination lawsuit through it.