Principles to Follow By Employers Respecting Religion

There are a number of items an employer needs to consider when facing an allegation of religious harassment. First, when an employee complains that another employee’s religious speech or activity is unwelcome or abusive, the employer should refrain from the temptation to judge whether the religious employee is sincere or merely "faking it." It is simply not the employer’s job to evaluate whether a particular set of beliefs constitutes a bona fide religion. Employers should err on the side of respecting an employee’s expression of religious belief. Second, respecting an employee’s beliefs does not mean that all speech, of any kind and in any manner, must be tolerated. The employer cannot assume that a complaint of religious harassment will simply go away by itself or conclude there is nothing the employer can do, solely because the alleged unwelcome speech is religious in nature. The employer may, and should, speak to the employee accused of harassment and address his or her manner of expression. As long as the employer does not behave in a way that could be construed as punishing the religious employee, or prohibiting his or her religious expression altogether, it is unlikely the employer will face liability to that employee. Finally, most employers probably know more than they think they know about how to handle claims of religious harassment. In applying their knowledge and experience with sexual harassment claims to the religion context, employers can reduce their litigation risks by, for example, including religious harassment in their anti-harassment policies, incorporating it into their diversity training programs, and conducting the same kinds of investigations that are appropriate for other types of harassment.