Federal, New York State and New York City laws prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion. This means that an employer cannot make any decisions based on an employee's religious beliefs or practices, nor can an employer treat an employee differently because of his/her religious beliefs. For example, an employer may not refuse to hire individuals of a certain religion, may not impose stricter promotion requirements for persons of a certain religion and may not impose more or different work requirements on an employee because of his/her religious beliefs or practices. Further, employees cannot be forced to participate, or not participate, in a religious activity as a condition of employment.

Employers are also required to reasonably accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. For example, this might mean not scheduling an employee to work on his/her Sabbath day or relaxing a dress code so that an employee can wear religious garments to work.

An employee need not have an explicit written memo or e-mail which was circulated around the office stating, "Let’s get rid of all the ____," in order to have a claim of religious discrimination. Employers will not practice employment discrimination so openly that written proof will exist. A "smoking gun" is not usually present.

If you believe that you are being discriminated against at work because of your religion, you should be aware that laws exist to protect you from unlawful religious discrimination. The attorneys at Schwartz & Perry LLP would be pleased to meet and discuss your concerns with you. There is no charge for the initial consultation. Please feel free to call us at (212) 889-6565 or contact us online.