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EEOC Sues Mesaba, Alleges Religious Discrimination

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Oct 1, 2008 10:05 pm US/Central

EEOC Sues Mesaba, Alleges Religious Discrimination

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Mesaba Airlines, alleging religious discrimination against a Jewish employee who refused to work the Sabbath.

The commission says the lawsuit was filed late Tuesday against Mesaba, a regional airline based in Eagan that Northwest Airlines bought last year.

The EEOC alleges that Laura Vallejos was fired October 5, 2006, from her job as a customer service agent at Mesaba's facilities at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

She filed the discrimination complaint shortly after she was fired.

The EEOC alleges the airline had prohibited employees from swapping shifts during the first 90 days of employment. The airline has since dropped the policy.

Northwest says Mesaba made reasonable efforts to accommodate the employee's religious practice within the work rules that governed her employment at that time.

 

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