Religious Creed Discrimination

Freedom to practice one’s own religion is one of the principles on which the United States was founded. Thus, both California law and federal law protect people from discrimination in the based on religion. These protections apply to what some consider to be traditional religions and traditional religious practices as well as to less well-known religious practices. This means that employers are not allowed to discriminate in hiring and firing based on an employee’s religious creed. It also means that employers must provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious beliefs. Employers who discriminate based on the religion of an employee or based on the religion of a job applicant face serious consequences and victims of such discrimination are entitled to compensation. If you are in need of an employment lawyer because you have suffered religious discrimination in the workplace, it is important that you immediately contact an experienced Los Angeles Religious Creed Discrimination Lawyer who will make sure your employer is held accountable for violating the law.

Applicable Laws

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(a), employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees or applicants based on a number of attributes including religion. FEHA only applies to employers with at least 5 employees, and is enforced by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of religion as well as race, color, sex, and national origin. It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. It is enforced by the Equal Employee Opportunity Commission.

Types of Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination in the workplace can take a number of different forms including discrimination in employment decisions, failure to accommodate, and harassment.

• Employment decisions. As with other types of personal attributes, religious discrimination often comes in the form of employment decisions being made based on the employee or applicant’s religion. For example, an employer may refuse to hire people of certain faiths or may not promote people of certain faiths.
• Failure to accommodate. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires that employers make reasonable accommodation for people to practice their religions. For example, if an employer prefers his or her employees to be clean cut, but an applicant’s religious prohibited the cutting of hair, then the employer must make an exception for that employee. Similarly, some religious require the wearing of head coverings. It would be discriminatory to require those employees to take off their head coverings while at work or risk getting terminated.
• Harassment. If an employee is the victim of harassment or bullying by other employees because of his or her religious beliefs resulting in a hostile work environment, then that employee would have a religious discrimination claim.

Bringing an Action for Religious Discrimination

Under California law in order to bring a religious discrimination claim, the employee must be able to prove the following:

• That the employee or applicant belongs to a practices a particular religion
• That the employee's job performance was satisfactory, or that the employee or applicant was qualified for the promotion or job and did not receive it
• That the employee was subjected to discriminatory conduct
• That other employees not of the same religion were not subjected to the discriminatory actions of the employer

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations law gives the time limit that a plaintiff has to bring a claim against another person or entity. In the case of a California religious discrimination claim, the amount of time depends on whether the claim is brought under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act or Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under Title VII, the statute of limitations is normally 180 days after date of the discriminatory act. If the employee chooses instead to pursue remedies under FEHA, a complaint must be filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing within one-year of the alleged discriminatory act. Failure to timely file a claim will may mean that you will be forever barred from pursuing compensation in your racial discrimination case even if your case has merit.

Los Angeles Religious Creed Discrimination Lawyer

If you are concerned about discriminatory practices in your workplace, you should discuss the specifics of your case with an experienced employment lawyer right away as there are time limits to filing claims. Employment discrimination based on religion is illegal. Not only may the discriminating party face serious consequences, you may be entitled to compensation. The staff at VAKILI & LEUS, LLP has years of experience successfully representing clients in a variety of employment related cases including wage-and-hour claims, employment discrimination and other employment law violations. Contact us at 1-855-52LA-LAW (1-855-525-2529) to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your concerns related to your employment.

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