Christian nurse asks to wear scrub skirt instead of pants — and loses job, feds say

A Christian nurse hired to work in a Texas correctional facility lost the job offer after her request to wear scrub skirts instead of pants was denied, officials say.

Now, the Tennessee-based health company that hired her has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Federal authorities say the nurse — a practicing Apostolic Pentecostal Christian — was hired by Wellpath, LLC to work at the GEO Central Texas Correctional Facility in downtown San Antonio.

“Before reporting to work, the nurse told a Wellpath human resources employee that her religious beliefs require her to dress modestly and to wear a scrub skirt instead of scrub pants while at work,” a news release from the EEOC says. “In response, Wellpath denied the request for her religion-based accommodation and rescinded the nurse’s job offer.”

The nurse says she had been able to wear a scrub skirt in previous nursing jobs, according to the Feb. 1 news release.

When asked if Wellpath would like to comment on the settlement, a spokesperson told McClatchy News, “We do not comment on employment matters.” The company website says Wellpath delivers health care services to patients across 34 states in “treatment facilities, civil commitment centers, and local, state and federal correctional facilities.”

The EEOC says Wellpath agreed to train human resources employees and certain managers in Texas on anti-discrimination laws and accommodations, including religious clothing and grooming requests.

The nurse will receive the $75,000 as back pay and compensatory damages, officials say, and Wellpath will also provide a notice to employees that informs them of their rights.

“Under federal law, when a workplace rule conflicts with an employee’s sincerely held religious practice, an employer must attempt to find a workable solution,” said Philip Moss, trial attorney for the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office. “This settlement should underscore the importance of employers taking affirmative steps to comply with their obligations under anti-discrimination laws.”

Federal officials say this lawsuit settlement comes after the EEOC first tried to “reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.” It was filed on the grounds of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits discrimination based on religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an applicant’s or employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs unless it would pose an undue hardship.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Christian nurse asks to wear scrub skirt instead of pants — and loses job, feds say."