Human Resources: Executive Summary: Religious Discrimination

More U.S. companies are shifting to a greater tolerance, or even encouragement, of spirituality in the workplace. At the same time, religious diversity is increasing due to immigration, and more workers are suing for the freedom to express their beliefs and follow their religious practices on the job. This is creating new challenges for employers.

Religious discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rose steeply during the 1990s, and the trend continued with a 30% jump between 2000 and 2003. The numbers are still low relative to other kinds of discrimination: 2,532 charges in 2003, or just over 3% of all charges filed with the EEOC.

Many management attorneys view the future with trepidation, though. The opinion of Grant T. Burgoyne, who represented the company in Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard, is typical: "Reported decisions aren't necessarily reflective of what's going on out there," and employers should expect a jump in religious bias suits. U.S. evangelicals may view the workplace as their next arena for action, he cautions.

Other management lawyers expect workplace proselytizing, in particular, to spark continuing suits from evangelizers, their co-workers or clients who feel harassed, and applicants and workers at faith-based companies. "Cases are just getting into the mature stage in religious harassment," explains attorney Dudley C. Rochelle. Religious discrimination cases are a small part of bias cases, "but they're growing."

Many religious discrimination complaints involve accommodating the practices of non-Christians, such as the obligatory prayers of devout Muslims or the religious holidays and Saturday Sabbath of observant Jews and others. Christians, particularly sect members, are filing more bias claims, too. Several recent cases involve diversity training that required employees to respect other religions or homosexuals. Religious harassment claims from members of minority faiths are also increasing, as are suits from employees at faith-friendly companies who feel pressured by others' beliefs.

The surge in government contracts to religious organizations has sparked a dramatic departure from nondiscrimination demands for federal contractors. In November 2003 the Department of Labor adopted rules that allow faith-based government contractors to hire on the basis of religion and use federal money for faith-based job training. Faith-based organizations can still face bias suits on their practices, though.

Employers paid $6.6 million in monetary benefits for charges of religious discrimination filed with the EEOC in 2003, more than they paid in the previous year and about three times as much as they paid in 1992. That figure does not include awards won in lawsuits. Many awards and settlements also require employers to change their employment practices.

Although religious discrimination complaints have risen rapidly in recent years, many U.S. companies have not yet faced such charges. Workforce demographics may soon change that. The U.S. labor force is aging, and older workers are more likely than younger ones to be religiously devout. Also, among recent U.S. immigrants are many adherents to minority religions. They are likely to be from authoritarian cultures, unaware of U.S. legal protections or unlikely to file discrimination complaints. As immigrants become more acculturated and the numbers of older workers grow, charges of religious discrimination are likely to increase.

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