By Mike Sunnucks | Phoenix Business Journal
Connie Bibb and Usama Shami are worlds apart when it comes to faith and religion.
Bibb, an evangelical Christian, is the pastor’s wife at the Pentecostals of Phoenix Church. Shami, a devout Muslim, is chairman of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix.
But both said they welcome opportunities to share their faiths with co-workers and business associates if they are approached — and both avoid proselytizing at work.
“I honestly don’t recall ever hearing my co-workers speak of faith in a negative way. Many of them share basic beliefs and are very reverent of Christian principles,” said Bibb, who has worked for 30 years in the private sector.
They are like the millions of other workers in Phoenix and nationwide who have strong religious beliefs — but in Arizona, that can mean workplace challenges as the state has become one of the leaders in religious workplace discrimination complaints. Between 2009 and 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pursued 532 religious discrimination cases in Arizona, ranking the state ninth highest in the U.S. during that time frame.
Arizona had 178 religious discrimination claims last year, the seventh-highest number in the country. More religious discrimination lawsuits were brought in Arizona in 2012 than in more populous states such as Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Those conflicts have cost U.S. employers $110 million in damages between 1997 and 2012. The EEOC does not record financial damages on a state-by-state basis.
Imraan Siddiqi, Arizona Chapter spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, believes many lower-paid service workers and immigrants do not have the time or resources to file complaints.
“It is for this reason that many, possibly the majority, of workplace discrimination goes unreported,” Siddiqi said.
Meanwhile, Rose Law Group director of Employment Law and Managed Health Care, David Weissman, says employers should be aware of EEOC guidelines regarding accommodation of employee religious considerations.
Obviously, employers in Arizona (and elsewhere) should have clearly stated, written policies emphasizing the company does not discriminate in hiring, promotion, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment on the basis of religion. Further, company managers should be carefully trained on (1) understanding and implementing these policies, and (2) preventing unlawful workplace harassment based on religion and properly responding if such harassment occurs.
Arizona employers should also be careful when dealing with requests by employees to accommodate their religious beliefs and practices. In that regard, the EEOC provides the following guidelines:
- Employers should inform employees they will make reasonable efforts to accommodate the employees’ religious practices.
- Employers should train managers and supervisors on how to recognize religious accommodation requests from employees.
- Employers should consider developing internal procedures for processing religious accommodation requests.
- Employers should individually assess each request and avoid assumptions or stereotypes about what constitutes a religious belief or practice or what type of accommodation is appropriate.
- Employers and employees should confer fully and promptly to the extent needed to share any necessary information about the employees’ religious needs and the available accommodation options.
- An employer is not required to provide an employee’s preferred accommodation if there is more than one effective alternative to choose from. An employer should, however, consider the employee’s proposed method of accommodation, and if it is denied, explain to the employee why the proposed accommodation is not being granted.
- Managers and supervisors should be trained to consider alternative available accommodations if the particular accommodation requested would pose an undue hardship.
- When faced with a request for a religious accommodation which cannot be promptly implemented, an employer should consider offering alternative methods of accommodation on a temporary basis while a permanent accommodation is being explored. In this situation, an employer should also keep the employee apprised of the status of the employer’s efforts to implement a permanent accommodation.
Of course, employers with questions related to a request for a religious accommodation or a claim of harassment or discrimination based on religion are always best advised to contact their employment law counsel for appropriate guidance.
Related: Muslims deal with differing workplace questions, attitudes
Recession, conflicts spark more religious discrimination complaints
If you’d like to discuss employment or health care law, contact David Weissman, director of the Rose Law Group Employment Law and Managed Health Care Law Practice, dweissman@roselawgroup.com
