OKC teacher wins lawsuit against charter school for discrimination based on religious beliefs against vaccine mandate
- Dennis McCaslin
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A federal judge has approved a consent decree resolving a Justice Department lawsuit against Advanced Science and Technology Education Charter Schools (ASTEC) in Oklahoma City.
The lawsuit claimed ASTEC violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against former teacher Marcus Rethwill based on his religion.
The Justice Department alleged that ASTEC fired Rethwill after denying his request for a religious exemption from the school’s employee vaccine mandate, citing his failure to provide a clergy letter to support his request. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on religion, sex, race, color, or national origin.
“Employees shouldn’t face a choice between their religious beliefs and their jobs when reasonable accommodations are possible,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Policies that overly restrict how employees prove the sincerity of their religious beliefs violate Title VII’s protections.”
U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma added, “No one should have to abandon their faith to keep their job. Employers must ensure policies don’t unfairly burden employees’ religious beliefs or question their sincerity.”
Under the settlement, ASTEC will pay Rethwill $95,000 in damages, revise its anti-discrimination policy, and provide mandatory training for staff. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigated Rethwill’s discrimination charge before referring it to the Justice Department.
Enforcing Title VII is a priority for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. More information is available at www.justice.gov/crt/ and www.eeoc.gov.
The case was handled by Civil Division Chief Scott Maule of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and Senior Trial Attorney Louis Whitsett of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section.
