Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—Employer resolves religious discrimination charge in $2.8M settlement, (Oct 3, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The EEOC alleged the employer discriminated against employes seeking religious accommodation in relation to its COVID-19 vaccine policy.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has entered into a $2.8 million settlement with UT-Battelle, LLC, resolving allegations that the employer discriminated against employees based on their religious beliefs. Previously, the parties entered into a two-year agreement requiring the employer to provide back pay and compensatory damages.

Discrimination charge. In 2021, the EEOC found reasonable case to believe that the employer discriminated against a class of employees of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory by denying the employees a religious accommodation from the employer’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. The EEOC alleged the employer violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in discriminating against the employees based on their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Settlement, prior agreement. Prior to reaching this settlement, under which the employer will provide $2.8 million in relief to the aggrieved employees, the parties engaged in the pre-litigation conciliation process and entered into a two-year agreement requiring the employer to provide back pay and compensatory damages. The agreement also required the employer to recirculate its religious accommodation policies and train human resources personnel on requests for religious accommodation.

Companies: UT-Battelle, LLC

News: AgencyNews Discrimination ReligiousDiscrimination Safety Covid19 RemediesDamages