NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- In a ruling made Monday, Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville was ordered to pay $70,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in 2006 after the hospital refused to allow a Muslim employee, Wali Telwar, time off to take a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Telwar said he had saved his vacation time to travel Dec. 27 to Jan. 17.

Instead of honoring Telwar's request for extended leave, Southern Hills insisted that he work as scheduled or resign from his position and reapply later.

Telwar decided to reapply for his job but was not rehired.

The hospital released a statement, saying, "Southern Hills Medical Center fosters a culture of inclusion across all areas of our company that embraces and enriches the diversity of our workforce. We have resolved this matter. As noted in the consent decree, we deny that we discriminated in any way against Mr. Telwar."

Maury Davis, pastor of Cornerstone Church, said that Christians asking the same thing of their employers wouldn't get federal support.

"We cannot afford for every Christian doctor to not work on Easter," said Davis. "It's one thing to be unfair to an employee. It's another thing to say, 'We have to have you at work this many days a year.'"

Religious complaints to the EEOC are growing every year. Many of those cases are about Muslim practices in the workplace.

Reporter Dennis Ferrier contributed to this story.