Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation in Fayetteville announced Monday (March 25) it has settled a religious discrimination complaint brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The EEOC claimed last year that Ozarks Electric violated federal law when the company fired Julia Solis, a call center customer service representative, who wanted the day off to attend a Jehovah’s Witness convention.
The suit was filed in January 2012.
“Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees against discrimination based on religion and requires employers to provide employees with reasonable accommodations to allow them to practice their sincerely held religious beliefs,” according to a release from the EEOC.
The company released the following statement Monday:
“Ozarks Electric has not engaged in any unlawful employment practices or otherwise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said Mitchell Johnson, President/CEO of Ozarks Electric Cooperative. “We have entered into this compromise agreement solely to avoid the uncertainty of litigation and expending additional resources that belong to our members.”
