Eric Schneiderman, NY Attorney General, recently announced an enforcement initiative to protect the religious rights of increasingly diverse New Yorkers at work and elsewhere throughout the state. Given the rise in religious discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and anecdotal evidence of discrimination in New York, the project will target faith-based discrimination and violations of religious rights through a public education and outreach campaign to help inform communities around the state about the requirements of anti-discrimination laws. The project plans to promote the process of filing a religious discrimination complaint and anticipates an increase in complaints as a result of the initiative.
Tanenbaum joins many New Yorkers, like Donna Lieberman of the NY Civil Liberties Union, Safia Hussain, President of the Muslim Bar Association of NY, Ron Meier of the Anti-Defamation League, Reverend A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center, and Richard E. Barnes of the NY State Catholic Conference, in excitedly commending the launch of this initiative.
Check out the initiative’s first brochure, “Religious Rights in the Workplace” which helps explain state and federal protections for employees, reasonable accommodations, and tips on implementing sound policies and practices to reduce religious discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Continue to keep an eye on the Religious Rights Initiative website for more helpful resources and proactive approaches to reducing discrimination in your workplaces.
