Knowledgeable Legal Counsel

Religious discrimination occurs when an employee, or prospective employee, is treated better or worse because of their religious belief. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act renders it unlawful for an employer "to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment," because of the individual's religion.

There are some exemptions. For example, a religious organization aimed at helping believers in that faith can limit employment only to members of that religion, as can educational institutions grounded in one religion.

Leaving aside these few exceptions, religious discrimination can occur during the hiring process, during employment, during requests for reasonable accommodations, and even when demoting, firing, or laying off individuals. Some examples of discrimination based on religion include:

• Refusing to hire or interview a job application because of a person's religion.
• Requiring the applicant to endorse or practice a certain religion before being hired (see exceptions above).
• Advertising for a job and limiting applicants to those of a certain faith (again, see exceptions above).
• Rejecting employment applications based on the person's name, such as "Mohammad."
• Demoting, firing, or other limiting an employee's job opportunities because they request a reasonable accommodation for their religion, such as a day or part of a day off to attend a religious ceremony.
• A company's dress code prohibits employees from wearing headscarves or other religious apparel.
• An employee is penalized or disciplined for not participating in company activities that violate their religious beliefs.

When it comes to religion, a reasonable accommodation at work can embrace, as briefly mentioned above, time off for a religious holiday or ceremony associated with the tenets of an employee's faith. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) defines religious accommodation as "any adjustment to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice their religious beliefs."

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. For instance, if the employee's company has a "no hats" policy, an employee may request an accommodation, or exemption to the rule, to wear a religious head covering such as a yarmulke or hajib.

Generally speaking, the Civil Rights Act requires the employer to grant the accommodation unless it presents an undue hardship to the company. If an employee's request for a day off for a religious observance might leave the company understaffed or require them to hire outside labor, the employer might argue that it poses an undue hardship.

If you feel you've been discriminated against on religious or other grounds at work, you have your choice of filing a claim with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). Remember Title VII of the U.S. code covers only employers with 15 or more employees, while the Ohio Civil Rights Act Covers employers with as few as four employees.

The time limit to file a claim with the EEOC is 180 days from the act of discrimination, but this statute of limitations can be extended to 300 days if the charge of discrimination is also covered by state or local ordinance. In Ohio, the statute is much longer, at two years, but this time frame was reduced from six years by the 2021 Employment Law Uniformity Act (ELUA).

The EEOC has always required that you exhaust your administrative claim procedures before filing a lawsuit. Ohio previously allowed lawsuits without exhausting administrative measures with the OCRC, but EULA aligned everything with the EEOC's stance. So now you must wait for the agency to signal a lawsuit can be filed if they don't file one themselves.