Frank Piechowski, plant manager for a Minnesota North Woods Appliance Corporation refrigerator…

Frank Piechowski, plant manager for a
Minnesota North Woods Appliance Corporation refrigerator plant, just received
his instructions from the vice president for manufacturing. He was to hire 40
more temporary workers through Twin Cities Staffing, the local labor agency
that North Woods used. Frank already knew from past experience that most, if
not all, of the new hires available to work the assembly line would be Muslim
Somali refugees, people who had immigrated to Minnesota from their war-torn
native country en masse over the past 15 years. North Woods, like all appliance
manufacturers,

Frank Piechowski, plant manager for a
Minnesota North Woods Appliance Corporation refrigerator plant, just received
his instructions from the vice president for manufacturing. He was to hire 40
more temporary workers through Twin Cities Staffing, the local labor agency
that North Woods used. Frank already knew from past experience that most, if
not all, of the new hires available to work the assembly line would be Muslim
Somali refugees, people who had immigrated to Minnesota from their war-torn
native country en masse over the past 15 years. North Woods, like all appliance
manufacturers, was trying to survive in a highly competitive, mature industry.
Appliance companies were competing mainly on price. The entrance of large
chains such as Best Buy and Home Depot only intensified the price wars, not to
mention that consumers could easily do comparison shopping before leaving home
by logging on to the Internet. The pressure to keep production costs low was
considerable. Thats where the Somali workers came in. In an effort to keep labor
costs low, North Woods was relying more and more on temporary workers rather
than increasing the ranks of permanent employees. Frank was quite pleased with
the Somalis already at work on the assembly line. Although few in number, they
were responsible, hardworking, and willing to work for the wages that he could
afford to pay. It was the first time this son of Polish immigrants had ever
come into contact with Muslims, but so far, it had gone well. Frank had
established a good working relationship with the Somalis spokesperson, Halima
Adan, who explained that unlike most Western faiths, Islamic religious
practices were inextricably woven into everyday life. As a result of the good
rapport they had, together they had worked out ways to accommodate Muslim customs.
Frank authorized changes in the plants cafeteria menu so that the Somali
workers had more options that conformed to their dietary restrictions, and he
allowed women to wear traditional clothing, so long as they werent violating
safety standards. After learning that the Somalis would need to perform at
least some of the ceremonial washing and prayers they were required to do five
times a day during work hours, the plant manager set aside a quiet, clean room
where they could observe their 15-minute rituals during their breaks and at
sunset. The Maghrib sunset prayers that second-shift workers had to perform
were disruptive to a smooth workflow. Compared to their midday and afternoon
rituals, the Muslim faithful had considerably less leeway as to when they said
the sunset prayers, and of course, the sun set at a slightly different time
each day. But so far, theyd all coped. But what was he going to do about the
sunset prayers with an influx of 40 Somali workers that would dramatically
increase the number of people who would need to leave the line to pray? Was it
time to modify his policy? He knew that Title VII of the Civil Right Act
required that he make reasonable accommodations to his employees religious
practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. Had
he reached the point where the accommodations that Halima Adan would probably
request crossed the line from reasonable to unreasonable? But if he changed his
policy, did he risk alienating his workforce?