EEOC Sues Blue Eagle Contracting for Refusing Sunday Church Accommodation

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, alleges that Blue Eagle Contracting, Inc. violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to return the employee to a weekday shift after he volunteered for a Sunday morning route.

Blue Eagle, a Grass Valley, California-based bulk mail delivery contractor for the U.S. Postal Service, hired the driver in September 2022. The employee informed supervisors of his religious obligations on Sundays stemming from his Christian faith and was assigned a weekday delivery route between Reno and Tonopah, Nevada.

The driver worked this weekday route for several months until he volunteered on an emergency basis to fill a Sunday morning shift after a coworker unexpectedly resigned. He reminded supervisors multiple times that he needed to attend church services on Sunday mornings and stated he was only willing to work Sunday mornings until a replacement driver for the weekend shift was hired.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Blue Eagle hired a replacement but continued to schedule the driver for Sunday shifts, while the replacement drove the weekday shift. The driver complained, but the company maintained the schedule.

Forced to choose between his Christian faith and his job, the driver resigned in December 2022. The suit alleged that Blue Eagle’s failure to accommodate the driver’s sincerely held religious beliefs ultimately compelled him to leave his job.

“Employers are bound by federal law to explore a range of possible accommodations to ensure that employees retain their right to freely exercise their faith,” said Christopher Green, district director for the EEOC’s San Francisco District Office.

The EEOC filed the suit, EEOC v. Blue Eagle Contracting, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-00226, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Senior EEOC Trial Attorney Mariko Ashley said, “Employers are required to comply with federal law to prevent discrimination based on religion. To force employees to choose between exercising their religious beliefs and their livelihoods, absent undue burden on the employer, violates the law and the EEOC will hold employers accountable.”