July 2008 Archives

Between 1992 and 1993, claims of employment discrimination based on religion jumped 82%! To put this in perspective, during the same period, claims involving race dropped by 3.5%.

Many employment discrimination claims based on religion involve instances in which employers refuse to provide an accommodation for an employee's religious practices. Three primary problem areas arise out of conflicts between work requirements and holy day observance, religious garb, and religious grooming requirements. A few claims arise out of conflicts between religious faith and a specific assigned duty. It is not only members of small or poorly understood faiths whoe experience trouble in the workplace. Cases coming before the courts have included Roman Catholics denied time off on Christmas Day; Evangelical Christians denied time off to attend church on Sundays; Sikhs whose employers require them to remove turbans; Jews and Seventh-day Sabbath keepers for refusing to work on Saturdays; Muslim women for wearing head scarves; and attempts to force Rastafarians to cut their dreadlocks.

With special thanks to the board which voted approval of my going to Washington, DC, for the Capitol Hill Summit last month, I want to devote this post to sharing with you what happened, and why I came home so excited to have been able to participate.