The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Aurora Pro Services company in North Carolina for unlawful religious treatment and termination of two employees in Greensboro. 

According to the commission’s press release, the lawsuit alleges that since at least June 2020, the company has held daily, employee-led prayer meetings involving solicitations of prayers for employees, Bible readings and Christian devotionals. On the Aurora Pro Services website About Us page, Christian values are displayed as integral parts of the business. For example, it states, “I learned that no matter what troubles I have, the solution can always be found in the Lord.”

The first incident involved John McGaha, a construction manager at the company, who identified as an atheist and made this identity known to his employer, according to The Washington Post. The complaint states that the employee was required to attend the mandatory daily Christian prayer meeting. 

McGaha was uncomfortable with the meetings and requested to be excused from the services in August 2020 due to the religious context. His employer refused and said it was for his good. The complaint states that McGaha’s pay was cut in half after his request not to attend. In September, after McGaha refused to attend and again requested to be excused, he was fired.

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His boss is quoted in the News & Observer as saying, “he did not have to believe in God, and he did not have to like the prayer meetings, but he had to participate.” 

Later, a customer service representative named Mackenzie Saunders, who self-identified as agnostic, experienced similar treatment and termination of employment for not attending these meetings.

The EEOC said it hopes to provide the two employees with monetary compensation from Aurora Pro Services and seeks injunctive relief from the company to stop ongoing or future practices it describes as discrimination based on religion.

“Employers who sponsor prayer meetings in the workplace have a legal obligation to accommodate employees whose personal religious or spiritual views conflict with the company’s practice,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney of the EEOC in the press release.  

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