Edward Wolfe applied for an “operations supervisor” position at a Voss Lighting store in Tulsa in early 2011, according to the EEOC.

The agency claims in the lawsuit that, during the application process, a pair of local managers made numerous inquiries -- “both subtle and overt” -- concerning Wolfe’s religious activities and beliefs.

Wolfe allegedly was asked to identify every church he has attended over the past several years, where and when he was “saved” and the circumstances that led up to it, and whether he “would have a problem” coming into work early to attend Bible study before clocking in for the day.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, recounts an alleged conversation in which one of the managers purportedly told Wolfe that the majority of Voss’ employees were Southern Baptist, “but that it wasn’t required that you go to a Southern Baptist church. As long as you were a ‘born-again’ Christian, it didn’t matter what church you attended.”

The EEOC claims that the same manager expressed “overt agitation and disapproval” to Wolfe’s responses to the religious line of questioning and that Wolfe was ultimately denied employment on the basis of his religious beliefs.

Steve Sanderson, vice president and general manager for the Lincoln, Neb.-based company, sent the Tulsa World a written response to the lawsuit on Wednesday which said, “Voss denies that the charging party was not hired as a consequence of his religious beliefs.

"The individual hired by Voss had more lighting product experience and was more qualified than the charging party. Voss looks forward to a judicial determination of the rights of the parties,” the statement said.

For more information, see Voss Lighting's mission statement:
http://vosslighting.com/storefrontB2BWEB/showpage/missionstatement.html