New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

New Jersey employment laws, and federal laws, may require that an employer grant an employee's requests for religious accommodations. Many employees are unaware that they may be entitled to reasonable accommodation based on their religious beliefs. Likewise, many employers fail to realize that they may be required to grant an employee a reasonable accommodation based on their religious beliefs.

A Linden based refinery just settled a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a worker who was required to work Sundays for two months in 2006. Maybe the company failed to seek the advice of a New Jersey employment lawyer before making the employment decisions in this case. The Linden based refinery, ConocoPhillips, had been accused of discriminating against a pipe fitter at the refinery. The complaint alleged that the company refused the employee's request for a religious accommodation. The employee, a deacon and lay leader of his congregation, was told by the company that he would have to miss his Sunday services for two months because he was required to work Sundays.

The EEOC stepped in and took the position that the failure to accommodate the employee violated Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1967. There is a section in the statute which prohibits religious discrimination. The stature requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for an employee's good faith religious beliefs, so long as the request does not pose an undue hardship in the employer.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination is a state law which provides similar protections for an employee's religious beliefs in the State of New Jersey.

In employment law, religious discrimination cases account for a very small portion of the employment lawsuits filed. In my experience as a New Jersey employment lawyer, I have seen very few religious discrimination cases. But when they are filed, they certainly are interesting.

In Webb v. City of Philadelphia, a Police officer's religious discrimination lawsuit brought because the employer declined her request to wear religious garb with her uniform failed as a matter of law. The 3rd Circuit United States Court of Appeals, which is binding, or highly persuasive, for cases brought under New Jersey employment laws, ruled in favor of the employer, City of Philadelphia, finding that the Muslim Officer's religious request to wear a garb created an undue burden on the City. The Court of Appeals recognized that the employee presented a prima facie case of religious discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but found that the employee's case must fail because the employer had at stake the perception of its impartiality by citizens of all races and religions whom the police are charged to serve and protect. Therefore, the employee's request created an undue burden.

The Court of Appeals distinguished a similar case brought by New Jersey employment lawyers in Fraternal Order of Police Newark Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark. In that case the Court held that the City of Newark was required to create a religious exemption to its "no-beards" policy because the City already created an exemption to the same policy for medical reasons. The discriminatory intent was therefore quite obvious.

Interestingly, the Court of Appeals went out of its way to point out that the ruling was only based on the facts presented at the district court level. Throughout the opinion it is clear that there were facts that were not developed or presented at the district court level which may have impacted the Court's decision.

Perhaps the Court of Appeals was sending a signal that this issue could be heard again. But then again, the Circuit Court issued the decision as precedential. I guess we will have to wait and see.