Former Trane Technologies HVAC technician Paul Ostapa is suing the company for religious discrimination, claiming the company fired him rather than accommodate his request that he not work with a woman unless other workers are present.
“Paul’s life was turned upside down when his commitment to God and the teachings of his church were put on a collision course with events and new requirements at work,” attorneys for Ostapa said in the complaint they filed Oct. 14 in federal district court in New York.
Ostapa joined Trane in the early 2000s, according to the complaint. In 2022, after he was told a female technician would be joining his office in Latham, New York, he asked for, and was given, a religious accommodation by his supervisor that he only work with a female if others are present, the complaint said.
After an instance in which the female colleague was dispatched to work with him without others being present, Ostapa asked the company dispatcher why the accommodation wasn’t being honored. The dispatcher reported the matter to an HR representative.
Ostapa later learned the supervisor never took the request through official channels, so the accommodation wasn't formally recognized.
After interactions with the company’s HR department, Ostapa was placed on administrative leave and then let go, according to the complaint.
“The basis given for the termination was ‘insubordination’ for refusal to work with another employee,” the complaint said.
In his complaint, Ostapa charges the company with violating his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of protected rights, which include religious beliefs. The law requires an employer to accommodate a worker’s request if it’s reasonable, practical and not unduly burdensome to the employer. The company also violated Ostapa’s human rights under New York law.
Since more than two dozen technicians worked in the Latham office, ensuring only male technicians worked alongside Ostapa when there would only be two workers on site was a reasonable accommodation, the complaint said.
“Assigning another technician to work with the new female technician in his place would not have caused Defendant undue hardship,” the complaint said.
Ostapa’s concern about working with a woman without others present has come to be called the Billy Graham rule, named for the evangelical protestant minister. The rule is intended to help men avoid the appearance of doing something considered morally objectionable and avoid accusations of sexual misconduct.
Former Vice President Mike Pence evoked the rule when he was in office, saying it was something he tries to adhere to.
Ostapa’s “sincerely held religious beliefs based on Scripture [are] not contingent on the potential for sinful conduct,” the complaint said. “His presence alone with a woman carries with it the appearance of evil from which he is to abstain.”
In an email, Trane Technologies said they can’t comment on pending litigation.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which filed the lawsuit on Ostapa’s behalf, said in a statement that Trane had demonstrated it could reasonably accommodate the request because prior to the incident when the female technician was dispatched, it had sent male technicians to Ostapa’s job sites.
“The company proved by its prior actions that it could accommodate his request,” Staver said.
