[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Religious Expression
Dealing with religious expression in the workplace should be guided by legal considerations. Employees claiming religious harassments can sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the affirmative action program, and the first amendment, the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the Constitution. Suits have also been brought under state fair employment practice statutes and under tort theories, including invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress. To avoid legal problems related to religion, supervisors should make sure that their actions and decisions are not prejudicial to their subordinates belonging to particular religious groups. They should also discourage religious jokes and slurs, and refrain from interfering in religious expression in the workplace unless such activity is inflammatory or disruptive and/or against expressed company policy.
A volatile legal question in today's workplace is how to handle religious expression. Such situations are difficult because they involve sometimes conflicting legal issues and strongly held personal beliefs. These situations happen with enough frequency that guidelines for supervisory employees are needed. In each of the past two years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has received 500 to 600 complaints of religious harassment.
The EEOC and the courts have consistently considered religious harassment to be unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They have also stated that an employer has an affirmative duty to maintain a workplace free from religious harassment. Liability may be imposed on an employer when it knew or should have known of the harassment, or even without employer knowledge if a supervisor was involved.In addition, employees have brought cases under the first amendment, the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the Constitution.......
