Teaching is a unique profession. For most of America’s teachers, the motivation is only partly about money. Most often, teachers’ primary stimulus is fulfillment of purpose and educating America’s youth to be tomorrow’s citizens, leaders, owners, and earners. Unlawful discrimination against teachers is especially hard to bear, because it injures not only their earning capacity , but also their sense of identify/self.

Here is what happened to a New Jersey substitute teacher in a recently reported civil rights case against a school district.

The teacher was fired for giving a bible to a student at a high school. The teacher said he gave the book to the student after the student asked the origin of the line, “The first shall be the last and the last shall be the first.” Since the student said he did not have a bible of his own, the teacher gave one to him.

Several months later, the school district terminated the teacher’s employment.Following the dismissal, the man filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging unlawful discrimination on the basis of religion. The case was recently resolved in the teacher’s favor. The EEOC determined that the school district discriminated and retaliated against the man based on his religion.

Specifically, the EEOC said that the school district did not provide documents that supported its case, which led to its conclusion that the stated reasons were a pretext, and the the more likely explanation for the school district’s decision and conduct was religious discrimination.

Among other remedies, the school district is now required to collaborate with the teacher to “find an ‘acceptable conciliation agreement’ to eliminate its unlawful employment practices.” The failure of the school district to do so will result in The EEOC’s filing of a U.S. District Court civil complaint against the school district.

The teacher reports that he is looking forward to working with his students once again.

This case illustrates that the EEOC can be an excellent avenue for filing an employment discrimination claim.  We urge our clients to file such EEOC complaints in appropriate cases, and we help them shepherd the claims through the EEOC process.  If the EEOC does not act timely, or decides not to proceed on a client’s behalf, then the client may decide to pursue court-based remedies.  If the case is likely to be a strong one, then we will file the court claims on your behalf.

If you believe that you have been a victim of employment discrimination based upon your religion (or for any other legally protected reason), please call our offices with your questions or concerns.  We will set up an initial consultation at a reduced rate. Why?  Because we are here to help you. For more information, please visit our website at www.hananisaacs.com

NJ.com, “N.J. teacher fired after giving student Bible eager to teach again after government ruling,” Emily Cummins, Jan. 7, 2015