Princess Cruises is being sued for religious discrimination by a woman who alleges she was forced to quit because the company denied her request to set aside time on two workdays each week to celebrate her faith as a Jehovah’s Witness, telling her they did not make accommodations for “this type of thing.”
Tonneishia Bradshaw’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges retaliation and wrongful constructive termination. She’s seeking unspecified damages in the complaint brought July 10.
A Princess Cruises representative has yet to reply to a request for comment.
Bradshaw, 26, of Lancaster, was hired in November 2018 as a customer service representative and fulfilled all the terms and conditions of her employment, according to her court papers. She alleges that shortly after starting work, she told a Princess Cruises human resources representative that she needed two hours off from work on Sundays and Tuesdays due to her religious observances.
The representative replied, “You are going to have to take what we give you,” according to the suit, which says Bradshaw repeatedly stressed the importance of her religious obligations, but was not given any accommodations.
The next month, Bradshaw contacted her direct supervisor and asked for the same accommodations for her religious obligations and also presented a letter from her church’s elders noting her religious duties, the suit states.
Bradshaw later received an email in response that said, “We do not make accommodations for this type of thing,” the suit alleges.
The plaintiff decided to quit because she “no longer felt comfortable working for (Princess) as a result of their religious discrimination and failure to accommodate (her) religious obligations,” the suit states. Her last day of work was in January 2019, the suit states.
The suit further states that Bradshaw has suffered emotional distress, anxiety, depression, headaches and tension and has incurred expenses for psychological counseling and treatment.
