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Employee was offered reasonable accommodations in religious
discrimination action.
Cosme v. Runyon, 287 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. March 29, 2002) - This is a
Title VII religious discrimination action alleging failure to provide reasonable
accommodation and failure to promote. Louis Cosme bid on a position that would require him
to work on Saturdays -- his Sabbath. The station manager, Michele McNeill, urged him to
remain an "unassigned regular" -- so that she could accommodate his scheduling
needs. He refused and based on his seniority, he received the position. McNeill also
offered Cosme positions at three other postal stations where he would not have to
work on Saturdays. Cosme refused. Each time Cosme was scheduled to work on a
Saturday, he did not report for work and he was disciplined for his absences. Eventually,
an accommodation was worked out. However, Cosme also applied for a postal inspector
position and that promotion was denied. Cosme sued on the basis that his religious belief
should have been accommodated sooner, and on the basis that he was impermissibly punished
for taking off on the Sabbath -- which led to the denial of the promotion to postal
inspector. At a bench trial, the Postal Service prevailed. On appeal, the Court holds that
Cosme was offered several reasonable accommodations. Therefore, he was not entitled to
skip work. As a result, if those absences led to the denial of the postal inspector
position, this was not a Title VII violation. Click
here to see actual case.