Wilson v. US West Communications, 94-2752
| Decision Date | 10 July 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-2752,94-2752 |
| Citation | 58 F.3d 1337 |
| Parties | 68 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 341, 66 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,611, 64 USLW 2054 Christine L. WILSON, Appellant, v. U.S. WEST COMMUNICATIONS, doing business as Northwestern Bell Telephone Company; Mary Joe Jensen, in her official capacity; Gail Klein, in his official capacity, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Scott S. Phillips, argued, Omaha, NE (Thomas W. Ulrich and Tricia A. Freeman, on the brief), for appellant.
Robert Rossiter, Jr., argued, Omaha, NE (Jerry R. Atencio, Englewood, CO, on the brief), for appellee.
Before HANSEN, Circuit Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and BOGUE, * District Judge.
Christine L. Wilson appeals from judgment entered in favor of U.S. West Communications on her religious discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a)(1)(1988). Wilson's wearing of a graphic anti-abortion button caused immediate and emotional reactions from co-workers, and U.S. West asked Wilson to cover the button during work. She refused, and U.S. West ultimately fired her. On appeal, Wilson argues that the district court 1 clearly erred in finding that her religious vow did not include being a "living witness." She also argues that the district court erred as a matter of law by concluding that U.S. West offered her a reasonable accommodation of her religious beliefs, and in holding that Wilson's proposals of reasonable accommodation constituted an undue hardship to U.S. West. We affirm the district court's judgment.
Wilson tried her Title VII claim to the court, and we recite the facts essentially as found in the district court's detailed memorandum opinion and order.
Wilson worked for U.S. West for nearly 20 years before U.S. West transferred her to another location as an information specialist, assisting U.S. West engineers in making and keeping records of the location of telephone cables. This facility had no dress code.
In late July 1990, Wilson, a Roman Catholic, made a religious vow that she would wear an anti-abortion button "until there was an end to abortion or until [she] could no longer fight the fight." The button was two inches in diameter and showed a color photograph of an eighteen to twenty-week old fetus. The button also contained the phrases "Stop Abortion," and "They're Forgetting Someone." Wilson chose this particular button because she wanted to be an instrument of God like the Virgin Mary. She believed that the Virgin Mary would have chosen this particular button. She wore the button at all times, unless she was sleeping or bathing. She believed that if she took off the button she would compromise her vow and lose her soul.
Wilson began wearing the button to work in August 1990. Another information specialist asked Wilson not to wear the button to a class she was teaching. Wilson explained her religious vow and refused to stop wearing the button.
The button caused disruptions at work. Employees gathered to talk about the button. U.S. West identified Wilson's wearing of the button as a "time robbing" problem. Wilson acknowledged that the button caused a great deal of disruption. A union representative told Wilson's supervisor, Mary Jo Jensen, that some employees threatened to walk off their jobs because of the button. Wilson's co-workers testified that they found the button offensive and disturbing for "very personal reasons," such as infertility problems, miscarriage, and death of a premature infant, unrelated to any stance on abortion or religion.
In early August 1990, Wilson met with her supervisors, Jensen and Gail Klein, five times. Jensen and Klein are also Roman Catholics against abortion. Jensen and Klein told Wilson of co-workers' complaints about the button and an anti-abortion T-shirt Wilson wore which also depicted a fetus. Jensen and Klein told Wilson that her co-workers were uncomfortable and upset and that some were refusing to do their work. Klein noted a 40 percent decline in the productivity of the information specialists since Wilson began wearing the button.
Wilson told her supervisors that she should not be singled out for wearing the button because the company had no dress code. She explained that she "just wanted to do [her] job," and suggested that co-workers offended by the button should be asked not to look at it. Klein and Jensen offered Wilson three options: (1) wear the button only in her work cubicle, leaving the button in the cubicle when she moved around the office; (2) cover the button while at work; or (3) wear a different button with the same message but without the photograph. Wilson responded that she could neither cover nor remove the button because it would break her promise to God to wear the button and be a "living witness." She suggested that management tell the other information specialists to "sit at their desk[s] and do the job U.S. West was paying them to do."
On August 22, 1990, Wilson met with Klein, Jensen, and the union's chief steward. During the meeting, Klein again told Wilson that she could either wear the button only in her cubicle or cover the button. Klein explained that, if Wilson continued to wear the button to work, she would be sent home until she could come to work wearing proper attire.
In an August 27, 1990 letter, Klein reiterated Wilson's three options. He added that Wilson could use accrued personal and vacation time instead of reporting to work. Wilson filed suit but later dismissed the action when U.S. West agreed to allow her to return to work and wear the button pending an investigation by the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission.
Wilson returned to work on September 18, 1990, and disruptions resumed. Information specialists refused to go to group meetings with Wilson present. The employees complained that the button made them uneasy. Two employees filed grievances based on Wilson's button. Employees accused Jensen of harassment for not resolving the button issue to their satisfaction. Eventually, U.S. West told Wilson not to report to work wearing anything depicting a fetus, including the button or the T-shirt. U.S. West told Wilson again that she could cover or replace the button or wear it only in her cubicle. U.S. West sent Wilson home when she returned to work wearing the button and fired her for missing work unexcused for three consecutive days. Wilson sued U.S. West, claiming that her firing constituted religious discrimination.
An employee establishes a prima facie case of religious discrimination by showing that: (1) the employee has a bona fide religious belief that conflicts with an employment requirement; (2) the employee informed the employer of this belief; (3) the employee was disciplined for failing to comply with the conflicting employment requirement. Bhatia v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 734 F.2d 1382, 1383 (9th Cir.1984). The parties stipulated that Wilson's "religious beliefs were sincerely held," and the district court ruled that Wilson made a prima facie case of religious discrimination. The court then considered whether U.S. West could defeat Wilson's claim by demonstrating that it offered Wilson a reasonable accommodation. An employer is required to "reasonably accommodate" the religious beliefs or practices of their employees unless doing so would cause the employer undue hardship. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e(j); Ansonia Bd. of Educ. v. Philbrook, 479 U.S. 60, 69, 107 S.Ct. 367, 372, 93 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986); Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63, 74-75, 97 S.Ct. 2264, 2272, 53 L.Ed.2d 113 (1977).
The court considered the three offered accommodations and concluded that requiring Wilson to leave the button in her cubicle or to replace the button were not accommodations of Wilson's sincerely held religious beliefs because: (1) removing the button at work violated Wilson's vow to wear the button at all times; and (2) replacing the button prohibited Wilson from wearing the particular button encompassed by her vow. However, the court concluded that requiring Wilson to cover the button while at work was a reasonable accommodation. The court based this determination on its factual finding that Wilson's vow did not require her to be a living witness. The court reasoned that covering the button while at work complied with Wilson's vow but also reduced office turmoil. The court also concluded that, even if Wilson's vow required her to be a living witness, U.S. West could not reasonably accommodate Wilson's religious beliefs without undue hardship. The court entered judgment for U.S. West, and Wilson appeals.
Wilson argues that the district court erred as a matter of law in its determination that U.S. West offered her a reasonable accommodation of her religious beliefs. Wilson first argues that U.S. West did not need to reasonably accommodate her religious beliefs, but should simply allow her to do her job and instruct her co-workers that the company's pluralism policy and EEOC guidelines were paramount to their alleged frustrations with the button. Wilson then argues that the district court based its conclusion of reasonable accommodation on an incorrect factual predicate: that her vow did not require her to be a living witness. She also argues that the district court erred in determining that the accommodations she suggested would create an undue hardship.
We first consider whether the district court clearly erred in finding that Wilson's vow did not require her to be a living witness. 2 Wilson argues that the parties' stipulation that she sincerely held her religious beliefs necessarily includes her being a living witness. She insists that she never waivered in her position that the vow required her to be...
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