Easy Small Business HR

Menu
  • HOME
  • ARTICLES BY TOPIC
    • All Articles
      • Background Checks
      • Dealing with Difficult Employees
      • Diversity
      • Employee Benefits
      • Employee Performance
      • Employee Retention & Engagement
      • Employee Theft
      • Employee Turnover
      • Employment Law
      • Fair Labor Standards/FLSA
      • Family Medical Leave/FMLA
      • Firing/Disciplinary Actions
      • Managing Employees
      • Pay and Salary
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Recruitment, Interviewing, Hiring
      • Supervisor Tips and Strategies
      • Workplace Safety
    • Close
  • RESOURCES
  • PODCAST
  • ABOUT US

July 18, 2014 by John W. Stapleton Leave a Comment

Keeping Kosher Under Religious Accommodation Laws

Keeping Kosher Under Religious Accommodation Laws

Most employers know that they cannot discriminate against employees and applicants based on their religion. But employers also have a duty to “reasonably accommodate” an employee’s or applicant’s “sincerely held” religious beliefs (or lack thereof).

Religious accommodation claims are increasingly targeting company dress code and appearance policies.While employers have the right to enforce policies relating to an employee’s physical appearance and dress while at work, recent case law suggests that employers need to be careful in their application of such policies.

Dressing the Part

Working on improving employee engagement?

EPIC is an Employee Engagement software that gives you the tools and insights to create a workplace culture that encourages engagement, loyalty, and trust.

TRY IT RISK FREE HERE

Although dress codes are often in place for legitimate business reasons, an employer may have to relax its dress code if it conflicts with an employee’s religious beliefs.

For instance, a fast food franchise in Texas terminated a cashier because she wore a skirt to work instead of the restaurant’s uniform pants. The applicant allegedly informed the restaurant of her need for accommodation because her religion, Christian Pentecostal, forbids her from wearing slacks. The restaurant ultimately paid $25,000 to settle the lawsuit.

In another case, a federal court found a retailer in California liable for religious discrimination when it fired a Muslim employee for refusing to remove her hijab (headscarf) at work.

Beards and Tattoos

Employers also must tread lightly in trying to control personal appearance in the workplace.

In November 2013, a car dealership agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a Sikh applicant’s claim that he was denied a job based on his refusal to comply with the dealership’s “no-beard” policy. Similarly, a trucking company settled a case for $46,000 in which a newly hired driver’s Rastafarian religious beliefs prohibited him from cutting his hair or shaving his beard to comply with the grooming policy.

Such claims also may extend to tattoos or piercings.For example, a restaurant employee refused to cover tattoos while at work on the grounds that covering the tattoos, which were themselves religious, would violate his religious beliefs. The EEOC brought suit on behalf of the employee and the restaurant ultimately settled the matter for a whopping $150,000.

Refuge for Employers

Notably, personal preferences are not protected under the law. Thus, while a Rastafarian may be exempt from a grooming policy, his bearded coworker is not protected from discipline under the policy simply because he prefers the look.

Moreover, when dress and appearance policies relate to safety, such as prohibiting long sleeves around machinery, courts have uniformly upheld the rights of employers to demand compliance.

Finally, offensive or vulgar expressions need not be tolerated and may even become a liability for employers. For instance, while an employee may claim that his KKK tattoo represents a religious belief, that same tattoo could be used as evidence to support a coworker’s racial-harassment claim against the company.

No “One Size Fits All” Policies

As these cases demonstrate, a “one size fits all” policy may be problematic when it conflicts with an employee’s religious beliefs. Each request for a religious accommodation will turn on the facts of the specific case, and managers must be trained to address any issues that may arise.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

John W. Stapleton

Associate Lawyer at Fisher & Phillips LLP, Atlanta Office
Guest Author: John W. Stapleton is an associate in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, which represents employers across the country in labor, employment, civil rights, employee benefits, OSHA and immigration matters. He can be reached at (404) 240-5843 or at jstapleton@laborlawyers.com

Latest posts by John W. Stapleton (see all)

  • Keeping Kosher Under Religious Accommodation Laws - July 18, 2014

Filed Under: Diversity, Employment Law, Policies and Procedures Tagged With: Diverse Workforce, diverse workplace, employee religious rights, employment law, labor law, religious accommodation, religious beliefs in the workplace, religious employee

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Be Social, Let’s Connect!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on Reddit
Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on RedditFollow Us on iTunes

Recent Posts

  • Build the Best Team for Your Small Business
  • Cross Training Staff – Doing the Right Thing For the Wrong Reasons
  • Proactive Employee Management Really Boils Down To The Basics
  • Office Meetings Do Not Have To Be A Productivity Time Drain If Done Right
  • Proposed Changes To Employee Rights Laws: WAGE Act Bill

Recent Comments

  • Lucia on The Consequences for Supervisors Who Ignore Poor Employee Performance
  • Norma on 10 Helpful Tips When Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • Henry Killingsworth on Clearing Up Legal Misperception of Reference Checking
  • Nyangoma Rachel on Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions
  • Online Training on Workplace Negativity Is Contagious – Here’s How You Can Control an Outbreak
  • Kristofina Grace on Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions

Top 25 Online Influencers in Human Resources

HR Examiner Top 25

Copyright © 2025 · Executive Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in