The recent horrific events in Pittsburgh wherein members of the Jewish community were killed while at their place of worship is a stark reminder that prejudices against religious beliefs remains in our society. At work, employers cannot tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment based on religion. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on religion, to include forcing someone to participate in a certain religion at work, segregating an employee due to religion (such as placing a person who wears certain religious garb in a non-customer facing position), or treating an employee in a disparate manner due to religious beliefs. Discrimination cannot occur in any aspect of employment, to include hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits and any other term or condition of employment. In addition, the law prohibits harassment based on religion, including offensive remarks based on someone’s religion. While the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acknowledges that the law doesn’t protect “simple teasing, offhand comments or isolated incidents that aren’t very serious,” employers should not tolerate any inappropriate comments or behaviors regardless of whether they rise to the level of being legally actionable. The law further requires that employers provide […]
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