I have to confess, I had never
heard of “Onionhead” before reading a recent article in the Wall Street Journal
entitled “EEOC’s New Religion.” The
article concerned the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing a lawsuit
against United Health Programs of America, Inc., a Syosset, New York, based
health network, for allegedly coercing employees to participate in religious
practices and terminating those employees who objected or did not participate
fully. As described by the EEOC in its
lawsuit:
These activities
included group prayers, candle burning, and discussions of spiritual texts. The
religious practices are part of a belief system that the defendants' family
member created, called "Onionhead." Employees were told wear Onionhead buttons,
pull Onionhead cards to place near their work stations and keep only dim
lighting in the workplace.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Civil Action No.
14-cv-3673) after conciliation efforts failed.
The company claims that “Onionhead” is not a religion but is instead a
workplace wellness program. As described
in the Wall Street Journal article:
The problem is
that Onionhead, as it turns out, isn't a religion at all, but rather "a
cartoon character used to peel layers for problem solving and conflict
resolution skills," and is intended "to empower employees, improve
communication and foster teamwork," according to a letter sent by the
defendants' attorney, David J. Sutton, to Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto last week.
The employees voluntarily agreed to participate in Onionhead and never asked to
opt out of the program, as other workers had.
The Wall Street Journal excoriates the EEOC for bringing such a frivolous lawsuit and in a statement, the company said “[t]he EEOC lawsuit is completely devoid of merit and we expect that it will be summarily dismissed.” After looking at the case, I’m not so sure.
As related in my last posting, “Mad Men: The EEOC Advertisesits Aggressive Agenda”, in recent years, the EEOC certainly has been guilty
of overreach in its implementation of the agency's Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2013 –
2016. At first glance, the agency suing
an employer over a cartoon character named “Onionhead” seems ridiculous and par
for the course for the EEOC.
However, in looking over the allegations in the Complaint
and other reports, if “Onionhead” is not a religion and merely a workplace
wellness program, it certainly bears at least some of the trappings of a
religious practice and at best is very close to the line. Religion lawsuits under Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 usually involve an employer’s failure to reasonably
accommodate an employee’s religious practice.
However, as alleged in the EEOC’s lawsuit, forcing an employee to take
part in workplace religious practices, and taking an adverse employment action
when they object also would be a Title VII violation.
As mentioned above, I have very little information on “Onionhead”
or its practitioners, and the EEOC’s lawsuit could very well be a loser for the
agency if the court finds the employer has done nothing wrong. In the EEOC’s case, it is alleged that a
family member of the company’s owners conceived the “Onionhead” program, and
that might explain best why the company implemented it.
Having said all that, if a client approached me about
implementing such a program in the workplace, I would consider it “just asking
for trouble” and would strongly advise against it.
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