McDonald’s sued for religious prejudice

Franchise wouldn’t hire Jewish man who refused to shave his beard

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Longwood McDonald’s franchisee for allegedly refusing to hire a Jewish man because he had a beard.

Morteza Javidi, a practicing Hasidic Jew, says he applied for a maintenance job in 2016 at a McDonald’s in Longwood at 900 West State Road 494 and was offered the position but told he would have to shave his beard.

The Longwood McDonald’s is a franchise location operated by Eustis-based Chalfont & Associates. The suit is not against the McDonald’s corporation.

According to the lawsuit, Javidi was told by the store’s manager, Joseph Torres, that McDonald’s has a grooming policy that requires male employees to be “completely clean shaven.”

Javidi told the manager he couldn’t shave his beard because of his religious beliefs but offered to wear a beard net. Torres maintained he couldn’t hire Javidi if he didn’t shave his beard, the lawsuit states.

The EEOC says Javidi was “denied employment because of his religion” and that the McDonald’s refused to provide accommodations for him.

McDonald’s corporate office would not comment on ongoing litigation. Chalfont & Associates did not return a request for comment.

Employers under federal law cannot discriminate against employees and potential employees based on their race, religion or sex and are required to provide accommodations for employees’ religious beliefs, such as allowing employees to wear a yarmulke or head scarf or to not work on Sun

days to attend church.

It’s been a common practice for businesses to forbid employees from having beards, but some have recently come around to loosening the rules. Publix in 2018 began allowing facial hair, as did Disney in 2012 after nearly 60 years with a strict beard ban.

“The policies themselves are not per se illegal, but Title 7 requires all employers who fall under the statue to accommodate the applicant or worker for their religion,” EEOC trial attorney Oshia Banks said in an interview.

There have been similar cases to Javidi’s, Banks said, including one that involved a McDonald’s in Fresno, California, where a Muslim employee was told he couldn’t grow a beard. Banks said the McDonald’s settled in 2013 and had to pay the man $50,000.

The lawsuit against the Longwood McDonald’s, filed Tuesday in U.S. Middle District Court of Florida, is seeking a portion of the money Javidi would have been paid if he had been hired, said EEOC supervisory trial attorney Kristen Foslid.