Kaiser Permanente has agreed to implement corrective measures to resolve religious discrimination charges after federal investigators found reasonable cause to believe the healthcare company failed to provide religious accommodations to employees.
According to a June 18 press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the charges alleged that Kaiser denied employees religious exemptions related to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate policy at facilities in several states. The agency said 12 charges were filed with multiple EEOC offices.
Following its investigation, the EEOC said it found reasonable cause to believe Kaiser violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by questioning the sincerity of employees' religious beliefs and failing to provide religious accommodations where appropriate.
As part of the settlement, Kaiser agreed to pay $358,000 and take corrective actions. The company also completed training on reasonable religious accommodations and implemented processes to address future requests in accordance with federal law.
The release said the EEOC will monitor Kaiser's compliance with the agreements for one year.
Kaiser did not admit liability as part of the resolution.
Christine Park-Gonzalez, director of the EEOC's Los Angeles District, welcomed the changes Kaiser agreed to make as part of the settlement.
"We commend Kaiser,” she said in the release, “for enacting corrective measures that will have a lasting impact on workers seeking religious accommodations in the workplace.”
Park-Gonzalez said federal law requires employers to provide reasonable religious accommodations unless doing so would create a substantial undue hardship in the overall context of the employer's business.
The EEOC said it will continue enforcing federal protections against religious discrimination in the workplace.