RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Religious discrimination is protected in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  No one shall be discriminated against because of his or her religious beliefs.  Religious discrimination can occur at work, during the hiring or firing process and all individuals are protected.

Many times, you can see religious discrimination with an employer that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  A good example of this is a hospital.  Hospitals cannot shut down because people don’t stop getting sick to celebrate Christmas.  If an employee that works downstairs in the data center strictly practices a religion and his religion requires him or her to be at his place of worship twice a week at certain times, the employer must not force the employee to work.  The employer must make accommodations for the religious beliefs.  You can never tell an employee they cannot go to church because they have to work.  That is against the law.

If a person practices Buddhism, goes in for an interview and the manager reveals this somewhere during the process of the interview, and tells the person they cannot hire them because of their religion, that is religious discrimination.  If a person is fired because of their religious beliefs or because of their religious practices make the boss nervous because the boss is a hard core Christian, that is religious discrimination. 

There are also many training programs, in hospitals for instance, that are Christian or Catholic based.  That is because many hospitals are run and funded with the help of churches and they started by nuns.  Anyhow, if these training programs conflict with an employee’s religious beliefs, he or she may refuse to attend them.  An employer must be okay with this because of the religious conflict.

All people are protected against religious discrimination from the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964.  No one can make decisions for or against you because of your religious beliefs.  If you feel you have been discriminated against in anyway concerning your religious beliefs, you might want to talk to a legal representative who can help you.