The Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association ("YMHA" and "YWHA") in New York settled allegations of religious discrimination made by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $100,200.

The EEOC's investigation found that the YMHA allegedly failed to provide a Christian employee a scheduling change that would allow her to attend Sunday church services as well as meetings she attended as a leader in her church.

After the refusal to allow the scheduling accommodation, the employee allegedly faced retaliation by YMHA employees and was forced to quit in 2022.

The parties utilized the EEOC's pre-litigation conciliation process after the investigation, resulting in a conciliation agreement. The YMHA agreed to pay $100,200 in monetary relief.

In addition, the YMHA agreed to other relief. It will:

· Revise its written policies, clearly setting forth procedures for requesting religious accommodations;

· Conduct annual anti-discrimination training for all human resources, supervisory and non-supervisory staff, with a specific focus on religious accommodations;

· Report to the EEOC requests for religious accommodations and complaints of religious discrimination and retaliation;

· Post EEOC notices, including a notice regarding the resolution of this matter, in a conspicuous place; and

· Submit to EEOC monitoring of compliance with the agreement for two and a half years.

Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/ymha-pay-100200-resolve-eeoc-religious-discrimination-and-retaliation-charge

Commentary

Consent decrees and conciliation agreements contain best practices that can help avoid litigation risk for nonprofits and other organizations.

Elements of these agreements are often consistent as in the above settlement - addressing policies, training, notice, and monitoring.

Nonprofit organizations should consider the following in order to avoid similar risks:

· Create and publish policies regarding discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and accommodations in plain language.

· Conduct annual training for all employees on protected classes and retaliation prevention.

· Track every complaint and document dates, action taken, outcomes, and any follow up.

· Ensure complaint investigations are conducted thoroughly, promptly, and objectively.

· Post current federal, state, and local agency notices regarding employee rights in a conspicuous place

The final takeaway is these agreements reveal established steps as to what the EEOC considers reasonable actions nonprofits can take to reduce retaliation, discrimination, and harassment exposure.