Wrongful Termination Lawsuits: Religious Discrimination

What Protections Do I Have?

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees are protected against discrimination in employment. Under the Act, you can’t be fired because of your religion and your employer is required to make reasonable accommodations for your faith as long as it doesn’t cause any particular hardship for the company.

Some of these accommodations can include:

How Can I Tell If I Was Fired for My Religion?

Most lawsuits alleging religious-based wrongful termination have common themes:

Firing People for Their Hair or Dress

In many wrongful termination lawsuits, workers allege that they were fired because their employer failed to accommodate requests to keep a certain style of hair or dress. Cases have been filed on behalf of workers who were terminated because they refused to cut their beards or Rastafarian dreadlocks, as well as people who refused to remove religious garb such as Jewish yarmulkes or Muslim burkas.

Firing People Who Need Leave for Religious Events

Employees have also been wrongfully terminated after their employer failed to accommodate leave requests that would have allowed them to observe religious holidays. For instance, in one case, a car salesman asked his employer to have off from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday because of his religious beliefs. The employee was eventually fired and, after reporting his claim to the EEOC, settled his case for $158,000.

Forcing Employees to Quit

In other cases, working conditions became so unbearable that employees were forced to quit. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a suit on behalf of a man who was forced to resign his position because of his religion (Islam). According to the suit, the man was harassed with such statements as “I don’t know why we don’t just kill all them towelheads” – and the employer did nothing to stop it.

What If My Employer Forced Me to Participate in His/Her Religion?

You may also have a case for religious discrimination if you were fired for refusing to participate in your employer’s religion. For instance, a medical and chiropractic office was forced to pay $170,000 to workers who were required to spend half of their day in scientology-based activities, including screaming at ashtrays and staring at each for hours on end, according to the EEOC’s lawsuit.

Have These Cases Been Successful?

Yes. Here are some of the results recovered over the past several years:

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