Cottle Strawberry to Pay $12,500 to Settle EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

RALEIGH, N.C. - Cottle Strawberry Nursery, Inc., a corporation based
in Faison, N.C., that has grown, packed, shipped, imported, and
distributed fruits and vegetables for over 50 years, will pay $12,500
and provide other relief to settle a
religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.  The
EEOC had charged that Cottle Strawberry violated federal law when it
refused to accommodate an
employee's religious belief and fired her because of her religion,
Seventh-day Adventist.   

According to the EEOC's complaint, Helen Perez, a Seventh-day
Adventist, holds the sincere religious belief that she must not engage
in labor during the Biblical Sabbath, which, in Perez's faith, begins at
sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on
Saturday.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, from approximately 2016 until 2018,
Perez worked each year as a seasonal worker for Cottle Strawberry at the
company's Faison facility. The EEOC alleged that previously, Cottle
Strawberry did not require Perez to
work Saturdays, but allegedly informed employees in 2018 that all
workers were required to work seven days a week. Accord­ing to the
complaint, Perez notified Cottle Strawberry management that she could
not work Saturdays for religious reasons. The
complaint further alleged the company fired Perez in response.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for
employees' sincerely-held religious beliefs absent undue hardship. The
EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Southern Division (EEOC v.
Cottle Strawberry Nursery, Inc., Civil Action No 7:19-cv-00064-BO) after
first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its
con­ciliation process.

In addition to providing monetary relief for Perez, the two-year
consent decree settling the lawsuit requires Cottle Strawberry to
develop a policy on religious accommodations and to provide periodic
reports to the EEOC. Under the decree, Cottle
Strawberry will conduct annual training for all employees on the
requirements of Title VII, its prohibition against religious
discrimination in the workplace, and on the company's religious
accommodation policy. The decree also requires Cottle
Strawberry to post a notice concerning the lawsuit and employee rights
under federal anti-discrimination laws.  

"No employee should be forced to choose between her faith and her
job," said Kara G. Haden, acting regional attorney for the EEOC's
Charlotte District Office. "This case demon­strates once again the
EEOC's commit­ment to fighting religious
discrimination in the work­place."