EEOC Sues Minnesota’s AscensionPoint for Religious Discrimination

A Minnesota-based estate and probate debt recovery company that manages decedent debt recovery for creditors is facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly fired Christian employee after he refused to be fingerprinted due to his religious beliefs.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit that AscensionPoint Recovery Services LLC (APRS) violated federal law when it fired the employee instead of accommodating his request not to be fingerprinted.

The EEOC’s pre-suit investigation revealed that APRS had requested that its employees be fingerprinted due to a background check requirement of one of its clients. Shortly after the Christian employee informed APRS that having his fingerprints captured was contrary to his religious practices, APRS fired him at their St. Louis Park, Minn., office. APRS did so without asking the client whether an exemption was available as a religious accommodation, and despite the fact that alternatives to fingerprinting are available.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an applicant’s or employee’s religious practice unless it would pose an undue hardship.

The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The case, EEOC v. AscensionPoint Recovery Services, LLC, Civil Action No. 0:21-cv-01428, was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and was assigned to U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud.

The government’s litigation effort will be led by EEOC Trial Attorneys Adrienne Kaufman and Kelly Bunch and supervised by EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Justin Mulaire.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits