Religious Discrimination, Accommodation or Harassment

“E pluribus unum” is the motto of our nation and it appears on the Great Seal. It’s a Latin term meaning “out of many, one.” We are a nation of all races, creed and religion, and every person is born with the natural right to be treated equally.

State and federal law prohibits discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.

It is also illegal to harass a person because of his or her religion. Harassment can include, for example, offensive remarks about a person’s religious beliefs or practices. Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren’t very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.
The law also prohibits workplace or job segregation based on religion (including religious garb and grooming practices), such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or feared customer preference.

The law requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer’s business. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion. Examples of some common religious accommodations include flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or swaps, job reassignments, and modifications to workplace policies or practices.

Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer’s operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices. This applies not only to schedule changes or leave for religious observances, but also to such things as dress or grooming practices that an employee has for religious reasons. These might include, for example, wearing particular head coverings or other religious dress (such as a Jewish yarmulke or a Muslim headscarf), or wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard). It also includes an employee’s observance of a religious prohibition against wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts).

When an employee or applicant needs a dress or grooming accommodation for religious reasons, he should notify the employer that he needs such an accommodation for religious reasons. If the employer reasonably needs more information, the employer and the employee should engage in an interactive process to discuss the request. If it would not pose an undue hardship, the employer must grant the accommodation.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides the following guidelines for employers to comply with the law:

Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs.

Religious discrimination can also involve treating someone differently because that person is married to (or associated with) an individual of a particular religion.

Religious Discrimination & Work Situations

The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.

Religious Discrimination & Harassment

It is illegal to harass a person because of his or her religion.

Harassment can include, for example, offensive remarks about a person’s religious beliefs or practices. Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren’t very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

Religious Discrimination and Segregation

Title VII also prohibits workplace or job segregation based on religion (including religious garb and grooming practices), such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or feared customer preference.

Religious Discrimination & Reasonable Accommodation

The law requires an employer or other covered entity to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer’s business. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion.

Examples of some common religious accommodations include flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or swaps, job reassignments, and modifications to workplace policies or practices.

Religious Accommodation/Dress & Grooming Policies

Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer’s operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices. This applies not only to schedule changes or leave for religious observances, but also to such things as dress or grooming practices that an employee has for religious reasons. These might include, for example, wearing particular head coverings or other religious dress (such as a Jewish yarmulke or a Muslim headscarf), or wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard). It also includes an employee’s observance of a religious prohibition against wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts).

When an employee or applicant needs a dress or grooming accommodation for religious reasons, he should notify the employer that he needs such an accommodation for religious reasons. If the employer reasonably needs more information, the employer and the employee should engage in an interactive process to discuss the request. If it would not pose an undue hardship, the employer must grant the accommodation.

Religious Discrimination & Reasonable Accommodation & Undue Hardship

An employer does not have to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices if doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer. An accommodation may cause undue hardship if it is costly, compromises workplace safety, decreases workplace efficiency, infringes on the rights of other employees, or requires other employees to do more than their share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.

Religious Discrimination And Employment Policies/Practices

An employee cannot be forced to participate (or not participate) in a religious activity as a condition of employment.

No Direct Evidence Required to Prove Discrimination

In employment discrimination cases, such as age, race, ethnicity, disability, sex, etc., or discriminatory harassment, direct evidence of discrimination includes, but not limited to, for example, supervisor making discriminatory comments in emails, recorded telephone messages, text messages, social media positing’s, etc.

While direct evidence of discrimination is preferred, a plaintiff is not required to come forward with direct evidence of discrimination. All courts recognizes that employers are sophisticated enough to hide motives they know are illegal. They do not leave a paper-trial or other direct evidence of discrimination, and there will seldom be eyewitness testimony as to the employer’s state of mind, no written records revealing the forbidden motive and may communicate it orally to no one.

In the absence of direct evidence of discrimination, courts permit a plaintiff to present her case to a jury if she comes up with circumstantial evidence sufficient to demonstrate that her termination was more likely than not motivated by discrimination.

New Jersey courts analyze an LAD claim based on the three-part burden shifting framework established by the United States Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green. Under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework, if the plaintiff sets forth a prima facie case of discrimination, a presumption is created that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the plaintiff. The plaintiff sets forth a prima facie case of AGE discrimination if she demonstrates that (1) she was in a protected class; (2) she was qualified for the position from which she was fired; and (3) she suffered an adverse employment decision; (4) she was replaced by a sufficiently younger person to create an inference of age discrimination, or the termination took place under circumstances that give rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. After an employee has established a prima facie case, a presumption is created that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the employee.

After the plaintiff establishes prima facie case, the burden then shifts to the employer to articulate with admissible evidence a “legitimate non-discriminatory reason for the employer’s action. To accomplish this, the employer must clearly set forth the reasons for the plaintiff’s rejection which would support a jury finding that unlawful discrimination was not the cause of the adverse employment action.

After the employer demonstrates a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for termination, the burden then shifts back to the plaintiff to come forward with evidence demonstrating either (1) that defendants‟ proffered reason for terminating the plaintiff was unworthy of credence, or (2) discriminatory animus more likely than not motivated plaintiff’s termination.

A plaintiff may demonstrate discrimination by producing indirect evidence to demonstrate that the employers’ reasons to terminate/discipline employer’s was either a post hoc fabrication or otherwise did not actually motivate the employment action. That is, the reasons provided by the employer was a pretext. To do so, the plaintiff must demonstrate such weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer’s reasons for termination/discipline that a reasonable factfinder could rationally find them unworthy of credence, and hence infer that the employer did not act for the asserted reasons provided.

Alternatively, a plaintiff may come forward with sufficient evidence from which a jury could reasonably conclude that a discriminatory factor more likely than not was a motivating or determinative cause of the adverse employment decision (e.g., by showing that the employer in the past had subjected him to unlawful discriminatory treatment, that the employer treated other, similarly situated persons not of his protected class more favorably, or that the employer has discriminated against other members of his protected class or other protected categories of persons).Further, a plaintiff need not prove that discrimination was the ONLY factor, or the sole or exclusive factor in the decision to fire her, but A factor.

Conclusion

Statistically, most plaintiffs win their discrimination cases in state courts. However, some of these cases do not even make it to a jury, and are dismissed on summary judgment.

If you are looking for a qualified religious discrimination, accommodation or harassment attorney to work on your claim, please review the case types below.

Kindly contact us at 201-222-0123 or complete our inquiry form if you believe you are a victim of religious discrimination, accommodation or harassment, or other statutory state or constitutional law violations.