legal column
BY GILBERT F. CASELLAS
THE LAW ON RELIGION AT WORK
appearance policies.
The typical ones are head-dress—whether you’re Jewish
or Sikh, for example—and
accommodating that. A recent
case involved a Rastafarian and
his hair. The second one has to do
with workplace harassment and
proselytizing. These tend to be
easy to accommodate.
Most of the religious cases
are gray areas. For example, an
individual who wears a religious
symbol—a crucifix, star of David
or any other kind—does that
constitute proselytizing? How, if at
all, can the employer accommodate
the employees’ religious expression
without undue burden on itself?
There have been situations
where an employee has claimed
that his company’s support for
LGBT employees conflicts with his
adhere to a corporate policy. It’s all
fact-specific, but an employer could
probably say, “I’m sorry, you
probably need to find another job.”
What happens when an
employee’s views prevent
him or her from adhering to a
corporate diversity policy that
includes LGBTs? Is there a point
where religious expression, such
as clothing or head-dress, becomes
an undue burden on the employer,
“A CONVERSATION ABOUT religious
topics IS ONE THING, BUT YOU
CAN EASILY cross the line AND IT CAN
become harassment.”
and can it justify termination?
In a Q&A with DiversityInc,
Gilbert F. Casellas tells you
about the gray areas of religious-discrimination law and why
diversity training can help
you avoid costly lawsuits.
DIVERSITYINC: WHAT DO
EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW?
CASELLAS: The most difficult area is
trying to make a determination on
what constitutes religion. If it’s
not a recognized religious order or
sect, employers have to be careful
because the way religion is defined
under the law for EEOC purposes
is simply “a sincerely held religious,
moral or ethical belief.”
Employers need to assure
themselves that when they provide
training on the traditional areas
of discrimination, they include
religion. The same legal standards
that apply to sex and race
discrimination apply.
A conversation about religious
topics is one thing, but you can
easily cross the line and it can
become harassment. If a supervisor
talks about his or her weekend at
church, it’s one thing, but if that
person then begins to request his
or her subordinates attend service
or read passages from the Bible,
there’s a line you cross. Given
the imbalance of power when
managers are interacting with
subordinates, you could have a
religious-harassment claim on your
hands as an employer.
—Compiled by Jennifer Millman
DIVERSITYINC: WHAT ARE THE
COMMON CASES REGARDING
RELIGIOUS BIAS AT WORK?
CASELLAS: This issue more and
more has to do with corporate
religious views. Where the line was
drawn in one of those cases is you
can have that belief if that means
you decline to attend a celebration
that was in connection with an
LGBT event. In this case, this individual refused in addition to that
to adhere to a corporate policy
that said, “We value diversity, and
diversity includes LGBTs.” You try
your best to accommodate both
views. The line that is clearly drawn
is where an employee refuses to
Gilbert F. Casellas is former chair
of the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and a member
of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and
Popeo’s Washington, D.C., office.
