Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination occurs in the workplace when an employer treats an employee differently because of his or her religious practices or beliefs. Discrimination may take the form of harassment, special treatment or refusal to accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious practices.

Anti-Discrimination Laws

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits religious discrimination by the government. Private employers, while not bound by the Constitution, are subject to federal and state discrimination laws. The primary anti-discrimination statute is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"). Title VII prohibits employers with fifteen or more employees from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, national origin, religion or sex.

Protection from Religious Discrimination Under Title VII

Title VII provides the following protections to employees:

• Employers may not make employment decisions based on an employee's religious beliefs or practices. Employment decisions include hiring, firing, promoting, demoting, and determining assignments and workloads. An exception to this rule exists if an individual's religion is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). Religion is a BFOQ when it is an essential part of a job description, such as requiring that a Catholic priest belong to the Catholic Church.
• Employers may not force employees to take part in religious events or activities as a condition of employment. For example, an employer may not require attendance at a company Christmas party, or mandate that all employees engage in daily prayer.
• Employers have a duty to accommodate the religious beliefs of their employees. "Accommodations" include allowing flexible scheduling for religious holidays and events, alternative job assignments and relaxed enforcement of certain workplace practices and policies, such a dress and grooming codes. An employer may refuse to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs if doing so would pose an undue burden on the employer. An employer is unduly burdened if allowing the accommodation would be unreasonably expensive, inefficient or unfair to other employees.
• Employees have a right to engage in religious expression in the workplace. An employer may prohibit religious expression by an employee only if it significantly interferes with workplace productivity.
• An employee has the right to be free from religious harassment in the workplace. Harassment is behavior that creates an intimidating or hostile work environment. An employer has a duty to take steps to prevent harassment by their employees.
• Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who oppose or refuse to participate in discriminatory practices, or who file charges against the employer for religious discrimination.

Reporting Religious Discrimination

All instances of religious discrimination in the workplace should be reported to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC enforces Title VII, as well as all federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices and policies. A charge of religious discrimination may be filed by any individual who legitimately believes that his or her employment rights have been violated. Additionally, an individual, agency, or organization may file a charge on behalf of the affected individual.

Potential Damages

A victim of religious discrimination may also choose to file a private lawsuit against his or her employer. If an employee is successful in bringing a claim for religious discrimination, the employee may recover lost wages, damages for emotional distress, and punitive damages.