Retired Consol worker wins discrimination suit
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) – A federal jury awarded $150,000 to a retired worker who sued Consol Energy Inc. for religious discrimination.
The Exponent Telegram reported jurors awarded the compensatory damages to Beverly R. Butcher Jr. last week. Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp will schedule a hearing later to determine pay owed to Butcher.
Butcher believed Consol’s use of biometric scans for time and attendance tracking violated his Christian beliefs. The lawsuit said Consol refused to consider alternatives to the scans and essentially forced Butcher to retire before he intended.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit on Butcher’s behalf in 2013.
An attorney for Southpointe-based Consol, Jeff Grove, told the newspaper the company will appeal the verdict to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.