The Civil Rights Act and other laws protect workers from discrimination on the basis of religion. As with other protected characteristics like sex and race, this means covered employers cannot treat workers differently because of their religion. However, they must provide reasonable accommodations to allow a worker to practice their religion.
Many religious discrimination lawsuits revolve around the question of what accommodations are “reasonable” under the law. Employers must provide accommodations such as flexible scheduling, reassignments or other modifications so long as they do not create an “undue hardship” on the employer.
Undue hardship
Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court clarified the meaning of “undue hardship” in religious discrimination law.
The case involved an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. An evangelical Christian, the man believed that Sundays must be reserved for worship and rest. When his managers asked him to start working on Sundays, he refused. His managers disciplined him for refusing to work on Sundays and he eventually resigned. The man later filed suit against the Postal Service, claiming religious discrimination.
At issue in the case was the question of how far an employer must go to reasonably accommodate a worker’s religion. The man argued that the law requires an employer to accommodate a worker’s religious practice unless doing so would be significantly expensive and difficult. The Postal Service argued that an accommodation becomes an undue hardship when it incurs substantial expense.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected both arguments. Rather than focusing on the expense alone, the justices ruled, courts must look at the matter in the context of the employer’s operations as a whole. In the case of the postal worker, this would mean weighing whether an accommodation of the employee’s religious practices would mean looking at the costs and disruption to the business of the Postal Service.
The Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court for more deliberations based on that standard.
Requesting an accommodation
As we have seen, it’s not always easy to determine when an accommodation is reasonable or an undue hardship. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Workers have the right to practice their religions as they see fit. If this gets in the way of their job duties, they can request a reasonable accommodation. If an employer refuses to give them one, a worker may have the right to take legal action.
The attorneys of Alan C. Olson & Associates help workers understand their rights.