Articles Posted in Religious Discrimination

Many of us have been there. You’ve just accepted a new job and now you’re going through the “new hire” procedures. You are probably asked to fill out, review and sign many documents. You may also be required to complete certain computerized or online tasks as you get started. Most people probably think of these things as perfunctory and don’t pay exceptionally close attention to the details. But the details can matter a great deal, especially should you eventually find yourself having suffered discrimination or harassment on the job. If you are in that position of needing to pursue a discrimination or harassment case, be sure you have skilled New Jersey employment counsel on your side.

One specific area where these kinds of details matter relates to the arbitration agreement you may have signed with your new job. Take, as an example, the case of a West Trenton-based flight attendant, A.S. When the flight attendant began her employment with a major New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company, she was required to complete something called a “training module.” That activity went over various employer policies, including the company’s mandatory arbitration agreement, which was laid out across a series of slides on a computer screen. One screen referred the employee to an internet link that provided the full text of the policy. A separate email provided a series of Frequently Asked Questions and answers to them (FAQs.)

One of the slides contained an interactive button that asked employees to “acknowledge” the policy. Even if the employee did not acknowledge the agreement, she would be “deemed” to have consented to it if she continued working for the employer for 60 or more days, another slide explained.

Many religions have various requirements when it comes to how followers dress and/or groom themselves. Some people wear dreadlocks because they observe the Rastafarian religion, some people wear a burqa because of their Islamic faith, some wear peyos in observance of their orthodox Jewish religion and still others wear beards because they are Sikhs. So, what happens when your employer tells you that, because of some business necessity, you cannot observe that clothing/grooming requirement that is an important part of the practice of your religion? Depending on the specific facts of your religious observance and your workplace, your employer’s rule may constitute illegal religious discrimination, in violation of the Law Against Discrimination. If your employer has told you that you cannot dress or groom yourself in a manner consistent with your religious faith, be sure to contact an experienced New Jersey discrimination attorney right away to find out if your employer’s actions are a violation of the law, and what that might mean for you.

To see an example of how this process can play out for an employee, look at a recent case that originated in Union County. M.R. was a man who practiced the Jewish religion. M.R.’s branch of his religion taught that men were prohibited from shaving their heads or their faces. This was not a problem until the summer of 2016, when M.R. became interested in becoming a state corrections officer. The corrections officers’ training program required all trainees to shave their faces and their heads. M.R.s sought a religious accommodation, and attached a statement from an elder in his church explaining the “no shaving” rule.

A week later, M.R. showed up at the training academy. He was told that his request for an accommodation had been denied, and was subsequently dismissed from the training because he was not properly shaven.

While everyone hopes that we are progressing toward a more enlightened society in which instances of discrimination and harassment in the workplace become fewer and fewer, the unfortunate reality is that they still happen. Whether your work environment is made into a hostile one because you’re African-American, female, Jewish, LGBT, Latino or for some other reason, you have recourse. To learn more about your options under the law, talk to a New Jersey employment attorney experienced in discrimination and harassment issues.

The allegations made by one township employee alleged conduct that was truly disgusting. According to a nj1015.com report, an employee experienced a near-constant barrage of anti-Semitic comments during his more than 15-year tenure with the township. These comments, which the employee endured on an almost daily basis, ranged from engaging in typical Jewish stereotyping (calling him “my big Jewish buddy,” “cheap Jeward,” and “Mr. Money Bags,” along with asking him why he “killed Jesus”) to epithets like “f***ing Jew,” “golem,” and “Jewbacca” (based the employee’s appreciation of the Star Wars movies). The comments allegedly went as far as telling him he should have numbers tattooed on his arm, a reference to the identification tattoos the Nazis gave Jews who were inprisoned in the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

In a case like this one, the employee’s claim arises from the existence of harassment so severe or pervasive as to make the workplace a “hostile work environment.” In this type of lawsuit, the harassment can be either severe or pervasive to constitute a valid claim; it does not have to be both. The harasser does not have to have authority over the person harmed. The harasser can be a supervisor, a co-worker or, in certain situations, even a non-employee of the employer.

According to a recent announcement from the Attorney General’s Office, an auto parts store employee received a $10,000 payment and the Attorney General received a promise of internal changes at the business in the wake of an employee’s complaint that the employer cut his hours after he asked not to be scheduled to work during Jewish holidays or on the Sabbath. The case highlights the strong protections New Jersey law creates for employees wishing to observe sincerely held religious practices, as well as the consequences for employers who fail to make a good-faith attempt to interact with a religious employee about his need and reasonably accommodate those religious needs. If you’ve suffered from discrimination or harassment at work because of your faithful observance of your religion, you should reach out right away to an experienced New Jersey religious discrimination attorney.

The employee in the auto parts store case, Ron, worked at the chain’s Hazlet location. Ron generally had been working three or four shifts a week, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Then, one day, Ron asked not to be scheduled for shifts that included Saturday hours or Friday hours after sunset. The employee made this request because he was Jewish and faithfully observed the Sabbath. He also asked to be off on certain Jewish holidays. After Ron made the request, he allegedly received a very different schedule, with the store scheduling him to work only one shift per week.

Believing that the employer cut his hours because he made the religious accommodation request, Ron filed a complaint with the state’s Division of Civil Rights. That agency investigated and concluded that the employer did not meet its legal obligation to accommodate Ron’s religious practice. Under changes to the Law Against Discrimination that took effect back in 2008, an employer has a statutory obligation to accommodate its employees’ “sincerely held religious observance or practice.”

Anti-discrimination laws are clear that an employer cannot discriminate against employees based upon their religion. This, however, leads to another question:  what does or does not count as a religion under federal law? One recent case involving a hospital worker offers some perspective on this issue. Although the worker lost his discrimination case, the court’s opinion makes it clear that the range of beliefs that qualify as a religion is broader than one might assume. For advice about this and other areas of employment discrimination law, talk to a knowledgeable New Jersey religious discrimination attorney.

The hospital worker, Paul, had been an employee of a Catholic hospital in southwest Philadelphia since 1994. In 2012, the hospital required its employees to receive a flu vaccination or else submit a form indicating that the employee was medically exempt or exempt based upon religious beliefs.

Paul did not belong to any organized religion. He held strong personal convictions when it came to receiving vaccines, but they were not connected to any religion. In the first two years, Paul submitted the religious exemption form with a lengthy piece of prose explaining his beliefs. Each time, the hospital granted him an exemption. In 2014, the worker submitted the same paperwork and essay. This time, the employer denied the exemption. It required that Paul provide a letter from a clergyperson related to his beliefs, which he could not do. On Dec. 31, 2014, the hospital terminated the worker for not complying with the flu vaccination rule.