Bombardier to settle LDS man's bias suit

DALLAS — A Canadian aerospace company has agreed to pay a man who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints $159,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday.

In its lawsuit, filed in Dallas under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the EEOC said Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace discriminated against former sales director Mike Kolman and then fired him for complaining about it.

According to the EEOC, a top company executive told Kolman that his religion was a detriment to his ability to sell business jets and that customers would be offended by his religious-based decision not to drink or smoke.

Kolman, who was based in Atlanta and now lives in a Denver suburb, was fired eight days after he reported the comments to the company's human resources department.

"It was an isolated and unique incident that does not reflect the culture or policies in place at Bombardier," company spokeswoman George-Ann Rosenberg said. "Bombardier does not tolerate or condone discrimination of any type."

The lawsuit was filed in Texas because the company has an office in the Dallas suburb of Richardson.