Religion Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Texas Labor code both prohibit employers from discriminating against an employee because of the employee’s religion or religious affiliation. Additionally, an employer must also provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious beliefs. A common religious accommodation is time off work so that an employee can observe the Sabbath. Contact our Texas employment law firm today if you have experienced religious discrimination in the workplace.

What About Workplace Retaliation?

In addition to protecting employees from religion discrimination in the workplace, the law also prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee who complains or opposes unlawful discrimination. For example, the law limits an employer’s ability to terminate, suspend, demote, harass, or otherwise retaliate against an employee because he or she complains to Human Resources or the EEOC about unlawful religious discrimination in the workplace.

Workplace retaliation and discrimination are two independent claims. This means that an employee can bring a claim against an employer for discrimination, a claim for retaliation, or both.

If you have suffered from discrimination based on religion or retaliation in the workplace, contact a Texas employment lawyer today.  Contact our Texas employment law firm today to setup a consultation.

What Is a Religious Accommodation?

There are numerous types of reasonable accommodations. For example, an employee may ask for time off work to observe his or her Sabbath. Time off work to observe your religion’s Sabbath is one of the most common forms of religious accommodations. Another example could be an employee who needs to wear skirts or pants as part of his or her religious beliefs. In many cases, it would be reasonable for the employer to allow the employee to wear skirts or pants.

Instead of simply denying an employee’s request for religious accommodation, an employer is under some obligation to engage in a process to discuss what would be reasonable. An employer likely violates the law by simply denying all religious accommodation requests without engaging in a meaningful conversation with the employee.

If your request for religious accommodation has be denied by your employer, contact a Texas employment lawyer today.  Our Texas employment law firm fights for employee's religious beliefs.

What if My Employer Denies a Request for Religious Accommodation?

If an employer denies your request for religious accommodation, then the employer must engage in a process to discover a potential compromise. Refusal to engage in such a process can be evidence of discrimination.

Contact our Texas employment law firm today if you need a religious accommodation or suffered from religion discrimination in the workplace.