Case Failure Accommodate Sabbath Practice Discriminatory

Posted on: Oct 22, 2015

A business that failed to accommodate an employee’s requests not to work Saturdays following his return to the practices of the Seventh Day Adventist Church was found to be in breach of the Human Rights Act by the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Central to that decision was the Tribunal’s choice of comparator when determining whether discrimination had occurred. It chose as a comparator a group whose only difference to the employee lay in not having a religious belief requiring observance of the Sabbath. In so doing, it rejected the comparator advanced by the employer: a group which does not have such a religious belief but did refuse to work on Saturdays.

The consequence for the employer: damages of around $40,000 (Meulenbroek v Vision Antenna Systems Ltd [2014] NZHRRT 51)

 

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.

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