Religious Discrimination

Murray Law welcomes the opportunity to provide experienced counsel and representation to persons subjected to religious discrimination.

Federal and Colorado law prohibits religious discrimination in employment.

Religious discrimination includes discrimination based on an individual’s religion, religious beliefs, practices, or observances.

An employer cannot discriminate against an applicant or employee because of the person’s lack of religion, beliefs, observances, or practices.

Applicants and employees at every level of authority, in every position, are protected against religious discrimination.

The law protects employees and applicants for employment in private sector employment and federal, state, local government employment from religious discrimination.

Murray Law represents clients asserting religious discrimination claims in federal and state court lawsuits, filing discrimination charges with federal, state, and local government agencies, and arbitration and mediation proceedings.

Steven Murray has successfully represented individuals subjected to discrimination and religious discrimination in lawsuits before multiple United States District Courts.

Federal and Colorado Law

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law, prohibits religious discrimination in employment. The Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits religious discrimination in employment. This law applies to employers with one or more employees.

Discriminatory Adverse Actions

The law prohibits an employer from taking adverse actions because of a person’s religion, beliefs, practices, or observances.

Because of religion, an employer cannot take actions about hiring, firing, compensation, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and measures about any other term or employment condition.

An employer cannot limit, segregate, or classify employees or applicants, which deprive or tend to deprive any person of employment opportunities because of religion.

The law prohibits the employer from acting to harm a person’s status as an employee because of religion, including actions about the terms, privileges, and employment conditions.

“Because of Religion”

An employer cannot take adverse actions because of a person’s religion, including:

• Acting because of a bias against, or a preference for, an employee or applicant based on religion.
• Refusing to hire an applicant because the applicant does not share the employer’s religious beliefs.
• Acting against a person because of the individual’s association with a group or person practicing a specific religion.
• Discriminating against an individual because of religious stereotypes.
• Discriminating against an applicant or employee because of the religious bias and prejudice of co-workers, customers, or clients or employees.

Reasonable Accommodation

An employer must reasonably accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, and observances of an applicant or employee unless the employer can prove that the accommodation would cause the employer to suffer an undue hardship.

Retaliation

Federal and Colorado laws prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals through retaliation because they engaged in a protected activity concerning religious discrimination.

Protected activity includes but is not limited to filing a charge of religious discrimination with the employer or filing a charge of discrimination with a federal or state government agency, or participating in an investigation of a discrimination complaint.

An employer cannot retaliate against a person for requesting and or receiving a reasonable accommodation for religion, religious belief, religious practice, or religious observances.

Harassment/Hostile Work Environment

An employer may not subject an individual to harassment and a hostile work environment because of religion, religious beliefs, religious practices or observances, or lack of beliefs.

Conclusion

Murray Law welcomes the opportunity to provide legal counsel and representation to any person confronting religious discrimination in employment. Please contact Steven Murray at 720-600-6642.