A major U.S. corporation will revise its religious accommodation policies after an intervention by the federal government in a dispute over transgender-related pronouns, the government said this week.
Generac Power Systems, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of generators, will pay a monetary settlement to a former employee and update its religious workplace rules after it reportedly failed to fully adhere to "reasonable accommodation" rules in the dispute.
The former worker in question had reportedly wished to continue using biologically accurate pronouns to refer to an employee who believed themself to be the opposite sex. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission intervened in the dispute and announced its resolution on Sept. 30.
The commission said Generac had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to "fully engage in the reasonable accommodation interactive process" before denying the religious accommodation.
The company denied the religious employee's accommodation request "even after the [employee] informed Generac that using non-biological pronouns went against his sincerely held religious belief," the employment commission said.
The corporation will pay out monetary relief to the employee, who has since resigned from the company, the commission said.
In addition, the company will "update its religious accommodation policies and provide training with the goal of promoting greater understanding and effective handling of religious accommodation requests going forward."
A Generac spokesman said in the government's press release that the company is "committed to treating employees fairly and respectfully" and in accordance with U.S. and state law.
The commission says that employers are obligated to make reasonable accommodations for religious employees unless doing so would "create an undue hardship" for the employer.
The accommodation rule "aims to prevent individuals from being forced to choose between their religious convictions and practices and their job," the government says.
