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Institute Defends Religious Freedom in the Workplace!
Rutherford Institute Defends Former Indiana StateTrooper's Right to Religious Accommodation in the Workplace
Institute Attorneys Petition U.S. Supreme Court on Behalf of Former Indiana State Trooper
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.--Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Benjamin Endres, a former Indiana state trooper who was fired for refusing to facilitate gambling on a riverboat casino because of his Christian beliefs. Endres charged his state employer with violating his right to religious accommodation in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Institute attorneys are challenging the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' June 2003 determination that law enforcement and other paramilitary employers are exempt from the religious accommodation requirements laid out in Title VII. In their appeal to the high court, Institute attorneys insisted that "[s]hould [the Supreme Court] permit the Seventh Circuit's decision to stand, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other similar public servants...will find their religious freedom in greater peril than those they protect."
In March 2000, the Indiana State Police gave Benjamin Endres a one-year assignment as a Gaming Commission Agent to the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Ind. Both before and after receiving the assignment, Endres informed his supervisors of his sincere religious objection to working on the riverboat as an agent of the Gaming Commission. He felt it would convey the message that he condoned the riverboat casino's activities, which include gambling and drinking. In a letter to his supervisors explaining his objections, Endres cited his "personal religious conviction against gambling" and his church's "strong position against it." He also expressed his "willingness to do virtually any job to avoid violating" his religious beliefs. Rutherford Institute legal staff contacted the superintendent of the Indiana state troopers and informed him of Endres' right to accommodation. Endres' pastor and former pastor also wrote to the superintendent explaining his and his church's religious beliefs and why they were in conflict with the casino assignment. Nevertheless, the state police department made no effort to accommodate Endres and fired him for insubordination after an administrative hearing. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in 2003, affirming the dismissal and ruling that a police officer has no right to request accommodation of religious beliefs that conflict with a general order, even if the accommodation would place no burden on the employer. Institute attorneys argue that this "unwarranted and unprecedented" decision by the appeals court amounts to a blanket exemption for "paramilitary" employers from the reasonable accommodation of religion requirements found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"The Court of Appeals has essentially said that in no case can a religious public safety employee such as a police officer or firefighter establish that any request for accommodation of his or her beliefs could be reasonable," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "This position finds no support in the text, history or purpose of Title VII, and places religious public safety employees in a second-class status that requires them to check their religious faith at the door when they report to work. It is our hope that the Supreme Court will review this case for the sake of the religious freedom of our uniformed civil servants."
Endres Supreme Court Petition (PDF)
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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