Walgreens is facing major criticism and even calls for boycotts after reports of multiple workers refusing to sell birth control to customers. The major pharmacy chain is standing behind its workers and its longtime policy of recognizing and respecting employees’ moral and religious beliefs, and it’s not the first time.
One of the more recent kerfuffles came in Wisconsin this month after a female customer and her partner took to social media to share their story of attempting to buy a package of condoms only to be told by the cashier that he would not ring up the prophylactic purchase because of his faith, NBC News reported. The employee did offer to get a manager to help them complete their transaction, but the customers were not satisfied with that option. So they shared their story on Twitter to criticize Walgreens and the cashier specifically by name.
When NBC News asked Walgreens about the incident, the business stood behind its employee, saying that his actions were not a violation of company policy.
“Our policies are designed to ensure we meet the needs of our patients and customers while respecting the religious and moral beliefs of our team members,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “The instances are rare, however when a team member has a moral or religious conviction about completing a transaction, they are required to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who will complete the transaction, which is what occurred in this instance.”
Walgreens faced similar criticisms this summer when another customer posted a video to TikTok stating that a pharmacist refused to fill her birth control prescription and connected the decision to the pharmacist’s religion. USA Today reported that Walgreens responded to multiple tweets about the allegations by standing by its years-long policy allowing pharmacists to exercise their faith when choosing which prescriptions to fill.
As far back as at least June 2018, the company’s position has stated: “Our policy allows pharmacists to step away from filling a prescription for which they have a moral objection. At the same time, they are also required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient’s needs in a timely manner.”
Though many critics find Walgreens’ policy inadequate, federal law requires most companies to reasonably accommodate employees with sincerely held religious beliefs.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website says, “Title VII requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs, practices and observances if the beliefs are ‘sincerely held’ and the reasonable accommodation poses no undue hardship on the employer.”
According to Title VII, “religion” includes “all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief.” It is not limited to only “practices that are mandated or prohibited by a tenet of the individual’s faith,” the EEOC states. “Religion includes not only traditional, organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, but also religious beliefs that are new, uncommon, not part of a formal church or sect, only subscribed to by a small number of people, or that seem illogical or unreasonable to others.”
