reply to the students response in 150 words minimum and provide 1 reference
question
Jason works for a car rental agency. Part of his religious observance is to pray several times per day. He approaches Supervisor Jan with a request for two additional 10-minute breaks per day in order to engage in prayer.
Student response
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that t shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s . . . religion . . . or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s religion . . . [Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]
Also, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
There are several legal issues that exist within this scenario, the first being his right to exercise his religion. While Jan can advise him to stop the religious harassment and approaching his co-workers in regard to trying to get them to join him in reading the Bible, she cannot however tell him to cease the practice of his religion. Our text mentions the basis in which religious harassment is prohibited by stating that “Of course, since Title VII prohibits religious discrimination, it also prohibits religious harassment”. (Pg. 551 Bennet-Alexander)
While there are several differences between the two, in the case of Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard, this was a clear case of religious harassment where the employee would use his religion in an attempt to hurt members within the LGBT community. Although Jason wasn’t targeting a certain group in particular, he was attempting to use his religion in an effort to pull his fellow employees into his system of beliefs. By doing so, it has resulted in religious harassment because they were uncomfortable with his approach and his consistency.
Reference
Bennett-Alexander, D., and Hartman, L. (2019). Employment Law for Business, (9th ed.)
