[St. Paul, MN] The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) today announced a settlement agreement with Unifi Aviation, the largest aviation services company in North America, after finding the company violated Minnesota’s civil rights law by discriminating against an employee because of her religion.

“Minnesotans of every faith have a right to request a religious accommodation,” said Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero. “Minnesota is stronger when civil rights laws are followed.”

MDHR’s investigation found that Unifi Aviation hired an employee in May 2018 to work as a security screener at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. For over a year, the employee wore a skirt as part of her uniform. This aligned with her religious beliefs as a Muslim woman and complied with the company’s uniform policy.

In 2019, Unifi Aviation changed its policy to require employees to wear pants. The employee asked for a religious accommodation to continue wearing a skirt, as she had done throughout her employment.

Rather than work with the employee to consider her request, Unifi Aviation flatly denied her religious accommodation request.

Failing to Accommodate Religious Beliefs

By failing to accommodate the employee’s religious beliefs, Unifi Aviation violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

The law requires employers to reasonably accommodate their employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the employer’s business.

MDHR determined that the employee’s religious accommodation would not have created an undue hardship. In fact, Unifi Aviation never claimed that accommodating the employee would cause an undue hardship for the company.

Unlawful Firing Because of Employee’s Religion 

MDHR also found Unifi Aviation violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act when the company fired the employee because of her religion. 

According to MDHR’s investigation, the company’s regional operations manager told her that she would have to choose between her religion and her job. When the employee refused to withdraw her religious accommodation request, Unifi Aviation abruptly fired her.

Settlement Agreement

The settlement agreement resolves the case and requires Unifi Aviation to:

• Clarify how employees can make religious accommodation requests.

• Follow the law by accommodating the religious beliefs and practices of its employees where a reasonable accommodation does not create an undue burden for the company.

• Provide managers with cultural competency training.

• Pay the former employee, who worked part-time, approximately two years’ worth of pay, totaling $32,000.

MDHR will monitor the company's compliance with the agreement through July 2025.

If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Discrimination Helpline at 1-833-454-0148 or submit this online form.