Justice Department sues Texas prisons alleging religious discrimination

By Talia Richman

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice denied an employee’s request to wear a religious head covering in violation of federal law, the U.S. Justice Department alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleges the department refused to make accommodations for Franches Spears’ expression of her Ifa faith, which is practiced among West African communities.

“Employers cannot require employees to forfeit their religious beliefs or improperly question the sincerity of those beliefs,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “In our country, employers cannot force an employee to choose between their faith and their job.”

A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which oversees the state’s prison system, said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

“But the agency respects the religious rights of all employees and inmates,” Hannah Haney said in a statement.

Spears worked as a clerk in an administrative building for Pam Lyncher State Jail.

Shortly after she was hired in 2019, Spears began to wear a headscarf to work. Her religious beliefs dictated that she cover her head during “periods of religious ceremony, mourning, or to protect her spiritual power,” according to the lawsuit.

Soon after, the suit alleges, she was called to a human resources meeting and told the head covering violated the department’s “business-casual uniform and grooming standards.”

Other employees were allowed to wear hats, the lawsuit said.

When Spears declined to remove her head covering, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials suspended her without pay, questioned her faith and ultimately terminated her employment, the lawsuit said.

“Having already terminated Spears, TDCJ took an additional step to note that her religious accommodation was denied,” the lawsuit added.

Spears first turned to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for help on Feb. 21, 2020, according to the lawsuit.

“The EEOC attempted to achieve resolution of this matter through conciliation, failed, and subsequently referred the Charge to the Department of Justice,” it reads.

The Justice Department wants the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to implement lawful religious accommodation policies and compensate Spears for lost wages and other damages.

This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.