Religious and Discrimination Issues PresentedThe religious issue presented in the case was that the employee, a Muslim, had to wear a head wrap in honor of the holy month of Ramadan. Because of her head wrap, she allegedly received threatening comments from the customers at the restaurant where she was working. As a result, her employer asked her to take off her head wrap to avoid distracting customers and fellow employees. Additionally, she was not adhering to the workplace uniform standards by wearing the head scarf under the visor. The employee was fired, not because she failed to do her job, but because of a bona fide religious belief. The employer claimed that he gave his employee enough time to adjust her dress code by not wearing the wrap during working hours but that was not something that she could do because it would go against her religious beliefs.
Elements of the Cause of Action
The cause of action in the case was that the defendant fired the plaintiff on grounds of religious discrimination because she wore a head dress during the holy month of Ramadan. The employee was working efficiently and had had no problems with her boss or colleagues at the time of her termination. That went further to show that the sole reason she was asked to leave her job was due to her religious faith.
Additionally, the defendant did not give the plaintiff adequate accommodation. He offered her an unpaid leave until Ramadan was over, but the plaintiff could not afford to go on unpaid leave. The other option was that her employment be terminated.
Applicable Defenses for the Case
Religious harassment by the employer under Title IV of the United States Equal Opportunity Commission may happen when an employee is forced or pressurized to desert, adjust, or accept a religious practice as a condition for employment (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). In this case, the manager at McFaddy’s Burger Joint compelled his employee, a waitress, to adjust/abandon her religion to keep her job, because she wore a religious garb during a religious festivity when she was required to. The head dress did not match the establishment’s uniform and it attracted threatening comments from the customers. This action constituted religious harassment. According to the case, the plaintiff received threatening comments from customers because of her headdress that symbolized her religious affiliation. Religious harassment happens when an employee is subjected to undesirable comments or behavior based on religion (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). Harassment in this case was offensive remarks directed at one’s beliefs or practices, or verbal or physical ill-treatment that is induced by the victim’s religious beliefs. The plaintiff experienced verbal maltreatment from customers.
Even though the law does not forbid offhand comments or simple remarks, such behavior reaches the level of illegal harassment when it is frequent or severe enough to cause a hostile work environment or when it leads to adverse employment consequences, for example, the victim being reduced in rank or fired (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). Harassers can be co-workers, supervisors, clients, or customers. The defendant admitted that he had no issue with the plaintiff’s quality of work, but the customer’s comments about her religion signified by her head wrap during the religious celebration forced him to take necessary action by firing her.
An employer should provide accommodations to an employee only if the religious practice actually poses excessive hardship on the functioning of the business (Find Law, 2013). The religious practice in this case was wearing a religious garb that did not match the McFaddy’s Burger joint uniform. The employer should not presuppose that the accommodation would cause unnecessary hardship to the business operations (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). In many cases, there are available accommodations that would allow an employee to stick to their religious practice and pose unnecessary hardship on the employer.
If an employer takes action on the basis of discriminatory religious opinions of others, for example, clients, customers, or colleagues, the employer is liable for discriminating based on religion (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). Customer complaint or preference is not a defense to a discrimination claim (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d).
Basis for the Judge’s Rule
The basis of the judge’s rule was that she did not find any reason for the plaintiff to be fired other than the fact that she was wearing a head dress during the month of Ramadan, which was a bona fide religious practice. The defendant did not make effort to provide reasonable accommodation under the circumstances because she could not take a month’s leave without pay. She ordered that the defendant be reinstated to her former position. The defendant was not aware that he was discriminating based on religion and their working relationship was good apart from the issue of the head dress.
What could have been done Differently to Mitigate the Liability Involved
McFaddy’s Burger Joint should have provided sufficient accommodations to the complainant before resorting to the decision to fire her.
Difference between Liabilities in Religious Discrimination and other Types of Discrimination
The difference between religious discrimination and other forms of discrimination, for example, discrimination based on age, disability, gender, or race, is accommodation. An employer is responsible to provide accommodations in cases of gender, religion and disability in as far as there is not undue pressure to the employer. Accommodation in gender refers to pregnant women who may need off days for hospital appointments or paid maternity leave (United States Equal Opportunity Commission, n.d). Other cases of harassment lead to monetary compensation. In serious cases of sexual harassment, the perpetrator could face a jail term and monetary compensation.
- Find Law. (2013). Employment Discrimination: Overview. Retrieved from http://files.findlaw.com/pdf/employment/employment.findlaw.com_employment-discrimination_employment-discrimination-overview.pdf
- United States Equal Opportunity Commission. (n.d). Discrimination by Type. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/
- United States Equal Opportunity Commission. (n.d). Religious Garb and Grooming in the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/qa_religious_garb_grooming.cfm
