Religious Discrimination

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Definitions 2

2.1 Religious Belief 2

2.2 Religious Discrimination 3

3. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 3

3.1 Prohibitions 3

3.2 Accommodations and Undue Hardship 4

3.3 Who is Subject to the Provisions under Title VII? 5

4. How to Handle Religious Discrimination in the Workplace 6

4.1 Preventive Measures 6

4.2 Filing a Charge 8

5. Cloutier v. Costco Wholesale 9

6. Religious Discrimination after September 11, 2001 12

7. Summary and Conclusion 13

7.1 Summary 13

7.2 Conclusion 15

1. Introduction

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees because of their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Religious Discrimination as part of the Civil Rights Act is the subject of this term paper.

Initially, I will give a brief definition of "religious belief" and "religious discrimination" and write afterwards about prohibitions regarding religious discrimination, reasonably accommodation of religious beliefs and practices, undue hardship, and about the question "Who is subject to the provisions under Title VII?".

Furthermore, I will enter into the question how employers and employees should handle religious discrimination in the workplace. Since discrimination in the workplace cannot only cause costly lawsuits, but also has an impact on the moral of the employees, I will name some preventive measures. After that, I will switch to the employee's view and give the reader an idea of what an employee should consider when filing a charge because of religious discrimination.

Then, I will present the case Cloutier v. Costco Wholesale, which shall illustrate how everything fits together Ð'- from the broad definition of religion to the handling of a filed charge.

According to statistics of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state and local fair employment practices agencies, the number of charges alleging workplace discrimination based on religion or national origin has been significantly increased after September 11, 2001. Therefore, I will deal in this term paper with the influence of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on religious discrimination in the workplace.

Finally, I have summarized some do's and don'ts for employers, since they should always take an employee's religion into account when making particular workplace decisions. A brief conclusion at the end shall round this term paper off.

2. Definitions

2.1 Religious Belief

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Guidelines "do not confine the definition of religious practices to atheistic concepts or to traditional religious beliefs. Under the Guidelines, a belief is religious not because a religious group professes that belief, but because the individual sincerely holds that belief with the strength of traditional religious views" .

2.2 Religious Discrimination

"Religious discrimination encompasses either taking adverse employment action against an employee or applicant based upon their religious beliefs or the failure to make accommodations in the workplace for religious beliefs or practices."

3. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

3.1 Prohibitions

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees because of their religion in relation to all terms and conditions of employment. This includes hiring, firing, compensation, benefits, job assignments, shift assignments, promotions, discipline, etc. It also prohibits employers from retaliating against applicants and employees who complain about a violation of their rights.

3.2 Accommodations and Undue Hardship

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires employers to reasonably accommodate religious practices and beliefs of employees, but employers do not have to tolerate undue hardship.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces Title VII, lists "flexible scheduling, voluntary substitutions or swaps, job reassignments and lateral transfers as examples of accommodating an employee's religious beliefs" . In other words, employers may be obligated to change shift arrangements so that the employee can work on another day, to allow leave for religious observances, to offer time and place to pray, to relax a dress code so that an employee can wear religious clothes, etc. If possible, the employer should also designate someone as contact person for accommodation requests.

However, employers are neither required to accommodate any religious practice or belief, nor do they have to pay all the costs of an accommodation. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Supreme Court is anything that causes more than ordinary administrative costs and disruption defined as undue hardship. Examples for undue hardship are "lost efficiency from shifting employees from other departments to cover lost shifts caused by religious practice; increases in wages, including overtime, for working weekend or evening hours; requiring employees without religious conflict to work overtime; and lost productivity due to the loss of a worker with unique skills" . However, if an employer denies an accommodation, he or she should ensure that the employee understands the nondiscriminatory basis for the employer's inability to implement the accommodation.

3.3 Who is Subject to the Provisions under Title VII?

Not every employer is subject to the provisions under Title VII. It only applies to following