The EEOC announced yesterday that it has filed suit against the Texas-based Bell Creameries, Inc. charging it with religious discrimination against a Jewish employee who was a body shop technician. The EEOC’s press release announcing the lawsuit said in part:
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Blue Bell fired the employee in March 2025, less than a month after he refused to shave his beard due to his religious beliefs. The EEOC said that Blue Bell’s stated reason for firing the longtime employee, a timekeeping violation, was a pretext for religious discrimination and retaliation, and claimed that other workers routinely engaged in the same conduct without repercussion. The lawsuit also said a supervisor baselessly questioned the sincerity of the worker’s religious beliefs on multiple occasions.
WBRC News reporting on the lawsuit said in part:
According to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the employee worked as a body shop technician refurbishing fiberglass vehicle parts. The company says that role requires a fully sealing respirator, which it claims is incompatible with certain facial hair.
Blue Bell held a respirator training and mask fit test for the department on Feb. 10, 2025. The employee was on leave and did not attend. The lawsuit alleges that none of the coworkers who did attend were required to shave their beards afterward, including some who had similar beards and did similar work requiring a respirator.