Religion in the Workplace Grabs Headlines: News Roundup

From discrimination cases in the U.K. and here at home to Oregon’s repeal of the ban of religious dress for educators to a study on how a person’s religious faith impacts his or her job, this week was all about religious diversity in the workplace.

• The E.E.O.C. filed suit against a North Carolina Lowe’s for forcing a Baptist employee to work on a Sunday. The employee submitted two written requests to take the day off for religious observation and was initially ignored. Then Lowe’s denied the claim, saying it would cause an undue hardship to other employees who also wanted Sundays off. Eventually, the employee was reduced to part-time status.

• In the U.K. a Christian nurse accused her employer of religious discrimination for refusing to permit her to wear a crucifix necklace. The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust Hospital said the necklace was a “heath and safety concern” – patients might grab necklaces and therefore they are not allowed. The hospital asked her to pin the cross to her uniform; when she refused, they moved her to a desk job. The employment tribunal found the hospital not guilty saying it had “acted in a reasonable manner in trying to reach a compromise.” She’s vowed to appeal the decision.

• Though no lawsuit has been filed yet, a Louisiana Parish President Government got a slap on the wrist from the ACLU for washing his employees’ feet at work. The gesture is often incorporated into Christian ceremonies the Thursday before Holy Week. Employees were not pressured to take part in the foot washing and it was not publicized, but some employees did express discomfort.

• In an exciting move for Oregon’s schoolteachers, the Governor signed a repeal of an 87-year ban on educators wearing religious dress in public school classrooms.

House speaker Dave Hunt celebrated the news saying:

 

“Today, we affirm and accept that Oregonians of different faiths can work and live and be educated together. Teachers now have the same religious free-exercise rights as every other Oregonian. This law protects Oregon’s Constitutional right to the free exercise of religion while strengthening religious neutrality in our public schools.”

• C+D discusses the religious issues that affect pharmacy employees in the U.K., including dress code and refusing medication.
   
• And lastly, the study. A new study from George Cunningham at Texas A&M found that “people who have a strong religious identity that differs from that of their colleagues report a higher job dissatisfaction than those who believed that they shared the same religious belief as their co-workers.”