The claimant, a Muslim security guard, requested a modification to the grooming standard of Allied Universal Security Services, a nationwide private security services company. Two days after he made the request for accommodation, the security guard was fired. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of the security guard, sued the operator of Allied Universal Security Services, Universal Protection Service, LP, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC alleged that Universal Protection’s actions constituted a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs so long as those beliefs did not pose an undue hardship. The matter was a resolution filing in which the complaint and proposed consent decree were simultaneously submitted to the court, and so defense counsel was not required to assert any defenses, as the case was not litigated., The EEOC, on behalf of the Muslim security guard, sought injunctive relief and other damages.