Religious Discrimination At Work

• Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs.
• Religious discrimination can also involve treating someone differently because that person is married to (or associated with) an individual of a particular religion.

• Title VII also prohibits workplace or job segregation based on religion (including religious garb and grooming practices), such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or feared customer preference.

• The law requires an employer or other covered entity to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer's business.
  • This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion.
  • Examples of some common religious accommodations include flexible scheduling, voluntary shift substitutions or swaps, job reassignments, and modifications to workplace policies or practices.

• Unless it would be an undue hardship on the employer's operation of its business, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices.

  • This applies not only to schedule changes or leave for religious observances, but also to such things as dress or grooming practices that an employee has for religious reasons.

  • These might include, for example, wearing particular head coverings or other religious dress (such as a Jewish yarmulke or a Muslim headscarf), or wearing certain hairstyles or facial hair (such as Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh uncut hair and beard). It also includes an employee's observance of a religious prohibition against wearing certain garments (such as pants or miniskirts).

  • When an employee or applicant needs a dress or grooming accommodation for religious reasons, he should notify the employer that he needs such an accommodation for religious reasons.

    • If the employer reasonably needs more information, the employer and the employee should engage in an interactive process to discuss the request.

    • If it would not pose an undue hardship, the employer must grant the accommodation.

• An employer does not have to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices if doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer.

  • An accommodation may cause undue hardship if it is costly, compromises workplace safety, decreases workplace efficiency, infringes on the rights of other employees, or requires other employees to do more than their share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.

• An employee cannot be forced to participate (or not participate) in a religious activity as a condition of employment.

Louisiana Law, LA Rev Stat 23:332 prohibits intentional employment discrimination. 

• Title 23 Labor and Workers Compensation - RS 23:332 Intentional Discrimination in Employment 

• LA Rev. Stat. Sec. 23:332 includes religious employment discrimination.

Retaliation claims for other types of discrimination complaints are not covered under the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law. Under La. Rev. Stat. § 23:967 General Whistleblower Protection Law an employee may not be discharged (or discriminated against) in retaliation for performing, in good faith, the following activities:

1. Disclosing (or threatening to disclose) a workplace act or practice that violates state law;

2. Providing information or testimony in a public investigation, hearing, or inquiry into any violation of the law;

3. Refusing to participate in (or objecting to) an illegal employment act;

4. To be protected under this statute, the employee must first inform the employer of the violation. An employee is not protected if he goes directly to a governmental agency without first advising the employer. Also, an employee must be certain that the illegal conduct actually happened; a reasonable, good faith belief will not protect an employee if no violation actually occurred. 

The general rule is that most employees may be fired at any time-for any reason or for no reason at all-under what is known as the at-will employment doctrine. However, there are exceptions to the general rule; the Louisiana whistleblower protection statute. Employees who engage in protected activities (usually filing a complaint or testifying) under laws in the following subject areas are protected from retaliation: health care employees, insurer employees, labor investigations & proceedings, and workers' compensation.

In addition to the above state protections, federal law provides workers with additional protections. Furthermore, a private contract or collective bargaining agreement may also protect employees from certain forms of retaliation.

Laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) require you to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) before you can file a discrimination lawsuit against your employer. An individual alleging a violation of Title VII must file a charge with the EEOC before you can file a discrimination claim in federal court. 

1. To File an Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) Charge:

   • Within 180 days of the alleged unlawful compensation practice 

   • 15 or more employees who have worked for the employer for at least twenty calendar weeks (in this year or last).

2. To File with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights (LCHR)

   • Within 180 days of the alleged unlawful compensation practice

   • 20 or more employees who have worked for the employer for at least twenty calendar weeks (in this year or last).

3. To File in a State Court under Louisiana State Law:

   • You may file a claim under state law without having first gone to either the LCHR or EEOC.

   • Generally, to preserve your claim under state law based on your state discrimination claims, you must file within 1-year or 360 days of the date you believe you were discriminated against. 

   • If you file your discrimination claim with the EEOC or LCHR within 300 days of the discriminatory treatment, then you have an additional 6-month extension from the 1-year period to file your claim in Louisiana state court (meaning you have 18 total months).

   • A case filed in state court using federal law may be “removed” to federal court by the employer because it involves a federal statute such as Title VII, GINA, ADA, or the ADEA, or because the employer is based in another state.

4. To File a Discrimination in Federal court

   • To preserve your claim under federal law, you must cross-file with the EEOC or LCHR within 300 days of the date you believe you were discriminated against.

   • A federal employment discrimination case cannot be filed in court without first going to the EEOC or LCHR, as discussed above, and having the EEOC or LCHR dismiss your claim.

   • This process is called “exhaustion” of your administrative remedy. The EEOC or LCHR must first issue the document known as “Dismissal and Notice of Rights” or “Notice of Right to Sue” (Form 161) before you can file a case based upon your federal claim.

   • A lawsuit based on your federal discrimination claim must be filed in federal or state court within 90 days of the date you receive the notice. Be sure to mark down that date when you receive the notice.