(JTA) — A federal judge has approved the settlement of a religious discrimination lawsuit between an airline and a Jewish former employee.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the suit in September 2008 against Mesaba Airlines, a Minnesota-based subsidiary of Delta Airlines, after it fired customer service agent Laura Vallejos in 2006 because she refused to work on Shabbat.
Under the settlement approved Tuesday, the regional airline will pay $130,000 to five discrimination victims. The other four were Christian applicants for customer service agent positions who were not hired because they would not work on Sunday mornings because of church services.
The airline had a policy against probationary employees switching shifts to accommodate personal schedules.
Vallejos had told the airline about her religious commitment but the airline did not offer any alternatives, the Pioneer Press reported.
