Suit: Job offer pulled after religious accommodation request

Published 10:02 am Friday, September 18, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS — The federal government is suing a Twin Cities-area health system, alleging it rescinded a woman’s job offer after she asked for faith-based accommodations.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against North Memorial Health Care System of Robbinsdale. The lawsuit said the health system offered Emily Sure-Ondara, a Seventh-day Adventist, a job as a nurse in 2013, and she then asked to not work from sundown Fridays to sundown Saturdays.

The agency and Sure-Ondara accuse the health system of refusing to accommodate and rescinding the offer, and declining to hire her after she relented. According to a press release, the agency and Plymouth woman are suing based on the alleged retaliation.

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North Memorial spokeswoman Lesa Bader said the hospital doesn’t comment on active legal complaints, but is committed to “equal employment opportunity for all applicants.”