Religious Bias Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

Religious harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including religious harassment in the workplace.  In this regard, EEOC lawyers announced in a Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/11-2-09a.cfm that the EEOC has filed a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against a staffing company which provides cable service in the Baltimore metropolitan area.  According to the November 2, 2009 Press Release, EEOC lawyers contend in the lawsuit that a Florida company and a Texas company subjected two employees to physical and verbal harassment because of their religion, Judaism.  As further stated in the Press Release, EEOC lawyers assert that beginning in September 2005 and continuing throughout their employment, both employees were called “Dirty Jew,” “Dumb Jew,” and other anti-Semitic slurs against Jews by managers and coworkers.  Moreover, the religious harassment continued for a couple of years, the EEOC said, and included the defacing of one employee’s work vehicle with a swastika symbol and physical harassment in which the employee was allegedly forced into a trash bin for the amusement of managers who observed them on a work surveillance camera and called it “throw the Jew in the dumpster.”  An EEOC lawyer was quoted in the Press Release as saying “Employers must take steps to prevent religious harassment of their employees [and] we brought this lawsuit to remind employers of their legal responsibility to prevent and promptly correct this type of conduct.” 

Religious discrimination charge filings with the EEOC nationwide totaled 3,273 in Fiscal Year 2008, up 11.4 percent from the prior year and the highest level in the past decade.  Further information about the EEOC and the laws it enforces can be found at www.eeoc.gov .   

Whether a hostile work environment based on religious harassment occurs in Texas or elsewhere, victims of workplace religious harassment may contact the EEOC and a lawyer to determine if a religious discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential employment discrimination claim.