Prayer meetings lead to EEOC lawsuit

The Charlotte District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued another North Carolina company, this time for alleged religious discrimination. The case serves as a reminder of the care that must be taken when an employee objects to the religious practices of the employer.

EEOC suit

The EEOC’s lawsuit is against Aurora Renovations and Developments, LLC, a residential home service and repair company based in Greensboro. The lawsuit claims that since at least June 2020, the company required all employees to attend daily employer-led Christian prayer meetings. The meetings were conducted by the company owner and included Bible readings, Christian devotionals, and solicitation of prayer requests from employees.

The company’s owner took roll before some of the meetings and reprimanded employees who didn’t attend. When a construction manager asked to be excused from the prayer portion of the meetings in the fall of 2020, the company refused to accommodate his atheist religious beliefs, cut his pay, and eventually fired him. A few months later, in January 2021, Aurora terminated a customer service representative who stopped attending the prayer meetings because the meetings conflicted with her agnostic religious beliefs.