Many years ago, on one of my first days as general counsel at a small college, I had to deal with a religious discrimination claim made by a vampire. I’m serious. True story. Not only did I survive, I also learned some valuable lessons all employers should know.
Over several years, the vampire in question had evolved from a good employee who liked to dress in black — like a Goth groupie of The Cure — to a good employee who filed his teeth into fangs, wore wolf-eye contact lenses, drove a hearse to work, and favored long capes and knee-high studded boots as work clothes. He freaked out the students, but was a big hit at national academic conferences.
When his supervisor told him to change his attire, he refused claiming that vampirism was his religion and he had just as much right to his religious dress as the various Muslims and Sikhs on the faculty.
Sound absurd? Sure. But religious discrimination law is legal voodoo — surprisingly broad in its protection of “seriously held religious beliefs” — and and I didn’t want my client to spend years litigating its way through it.
When the head of HR first called me with the issue, I had the feeling she had been waiting a while for someone to arrive to help.
And therein lied the real problem — for years nobody wanted to, nor knew how to, deal with this issue. So they turned a blind eye to the problem; it languished and became more complicated as time passed.
My approach to the problem was simple — I looked beyond the ghoulish exterior and started paying attention to the employee’s performance. Nobody had done so for years. He worked in the basement of the science building and came and went through a back door as he pleased. Looking through his records, I quickly found an issue: his time records showed that he was chronically late and often left early. I had his manager give him a verbal warning about it. When he didn’t improve, he received an additional warning; didn’t improve, he was suspended; didn’t improve, he was terminated.
The managers’ solution to their problem was right there in the employee’s file, but they overlooked it because they were overwhelmed by the vampire and his assertion of religious rights.
So what are the lessons?
Do not forget to look at the “small stuff” when faced with an employment issue. Everyone must follow the work rules regardless of their religious, disability, minority or any other status.
Do not let problems evolve into monsters by ignoring them and hoping they go away. When you first observe an employee issue, address it. If you don’t know how, call your lawyer — the sooner the better. An employer who fails to do so will eventually get bitten (sorry) when the problem employee not only gets worse, but makes a workers comp, whistle-blowing, or discrimination claim that places them in a specially protected class. Then you'll have a real nightmare on your hands.
T McKee Law has advised hundreds (if not more) employers over the years manage employees proactively to avoid problems and how to deal with problems when they arise. We’d love to help your business.
