Source: The Indianapolis Star
On February 12, 2000, The Indianapolis Star published an
article about religious discrimination in the workplace. According to
a study released last month by the New York-based Tanenbaum Center
for Interreligious Understanding, 66 percent of non-Christian
religious followers believe that they have either experienced or
witnessed religious discrimination while on the job, with Muslims
being the most vulnerable to religious bias. Discrimination ranging
from denial of time off for religious observances to dismissal for
facial hair or head coverings were reported by the more than 420
participants in the study. Georgette Bennett, president of the
Tanenbaum Center, contends that the problem will get
worse if businesses don't provide diversity training for supervisors
and employees. Bennett stated: "We are undergoing a major demographic
shift in this country as fewer of our immigrants come from Europe and
more and more of them come from Latin America, Asia and the Middle
East...Immigrants are no longer predominantly white or Christian, and
that's going to eventually be reflected in the workplace. If we don't
get ahead of the curve on this, it's going to loom very large as the
next great civil rights issue."
Although employers are required to
grant reasonable religious accommodations for workers based on the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer may deny a request if it poses
an "undue hardship." In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court's 1976
ruling in TWA v. Hardison allows a denial of religious
accommodation even if it only causes minimal hardship to the employer.
Many religious organizations are trying to pass the Workplace
Religious Freedom Act through Congress, but it has yet to have a committee hearing, let alone become
law.