Employment Lawyers Group Services

Job Termination Due To Religion

It is illegal to terminate an employee due to religion. Many of the job termination cases due to religion have involved:

• Employers who do not want to allow employees to take off on Sabbath, usually Sunday but Saturday in Judaism
• Supervisors or groups of co-workers who do not respect members of a certain religion and decide to fire them due to their religion
• Taunting and unkind remarks due to religion sometimes due to an actual animus towards the religious group that leads to job terminations due to religion

We have handled a number of religious discrimination cases in which our clients have sued for job terminations based upon religion, but also religious harassment. These cases often include nasty comments about a religion, or their religious practices.

Examples of religious harassment and discrimination in employment include:

• Making fun of a South Bay Hindu because he worshipped a monkey
• Making insensitive comments about a religion, their members, of its practices
• A Woodland Hills law firm sending out a Christmas party invitation that said, “Jews Optional”
• Telling a Camarillo reborn Christian she should, “Go pray about it” in an insulting way
• Forcing Los Angeles workers to pray
• Making absurd and offensive remarks about what a Muslim must do because of their religion
• Saying a certain religions do not qualify as a religion
• Making the work environment intolerable for an atheist
• Telling employees they are inferior because of their association with a certain religion, or lack of association with a certain religion

Under California law, prohibited religious discrimination is to be interpreted broadly. The terms used to describe the prohibited employment practices include, “Religious creed,” and making discrimination based upon religious observance illegal. All aspects of religion are supposed to be covered. Specifically, religious grooming and dress is protected under California workplace discrimination laws. Religious clothing includes head and face coverings, and jewelry. Accordingly, there are many cases in which Muslim women have successfully sued their employers because they were asked to remove head coverings. In terms of religious grooming, an Orthodox Jewish man should not be asked to shave their Payots. An experienced job termination lawyer can guide you through the process of suing if your job was terminated due to religion. The Fair Employment and Housing Act generally applies to all California job termination cases. However, if a religions association or nonprofit religious corporation terminated you due to religion, it is necessary use Federal Title VII because the Fair Employment and Housing Act do not apply to religious associations or religious nonprofit corporations.

An experienced job termination lawyer can determine if you were working for a religious corporation or religious association exempt from state religious discrimination laws, but liable under Federal discrimination in employment laws. If our clients were employed by a corporation that might have a religious purpose, we pull documents from the California Secretary of State to determine if the corporation’s purpose is religious. For example, many hospitals are either owned by a religious group, or exist to serve religious missions. Hospitals or schools organized for a charitable religious purpose are liable for religious discrimination under Federal Title VII, but not California discrimination laws. If you were terminated from your job, discriminated against, or harassed on the basis of your religion contact our experienced Los Angeles labor law firm at (310) 842-8600.