A recent court ruling, raised questions about “reasonable” workplace accommodations and employment bias. A former Ralphs grocery store alleged his employer engaged in religious discrimination. Plaintiff Mohammed Saifudeen’s cause of action against the grocery giant alleged that his employer took adverse actions against Saifudeen as a result of his islamic religion and national-origin. 

Saifudeen’s legal claims alleged that the grocery store chain fired Saifudeen in 2016 due to his religious and national identities. Further, Saifudeen alleged the grocery chain failed to “respect his religious commitments.” Following these allegations, the opposing council defended Ralphs by demonstrating the accommodations  made for Saifudeen. In addition, Ralphs grocery chain testified against Saifudeen’s claims, stating that the former employee had several opportunities to follow company policy and use the online scheduling system to request days off. 

Finally, the court ruled against Saifudeen’s discrimination claims, stating that Ralphs had not acted adversely towards Saifudeen in an unlawful manner. The decisions supports the grocery store’s claim that the termination of Saifudeen was unrelated to religious and national identity. 

What is considered religious discrimination in the workplace? 

Workplace discrimination consists of adverse actions against an employee related to a protected characteristic. These protected characteristics are defined by the EEOC. What does religious discrimination look like? 

  • Firing or laying off an employee for participating in certain religious practices
  • Harassment of an employee based on their national origin 
  • Refusing to provide reasonable accommodations for religious activities 

What are reasonable accommodations? 

The main point behind the defendant’s claims in Saifudeen v. Ralphs Grocery Co. was that Saifudeen had several opportunities to cooperate with his employer to create reasonable accommodations for his religious practice. In addition, this raises questions about what constitutes employment bias and what can be considered reasonable accommodations in the workplace? 

Reasonable accommodations related to religion can look like this: 

  • Adjustments to work schedule that allow an employee to practice religion 
  • Accommodations to work shift or tasks that interfere with religious practices

As long as these accommodations do not pose a hardship to the employer, the employee is entitled to such workplace religious accommodations. Further, failure to implement reasonable accommodations can be interpreted as employment bias.

New York State Law for Reasonable Religious Accommodations

Similarly, religious accommodations for New York State law determine that employees as well as job applicants are protected against forms of workplace discrimination based on their religion. In this context, religious discrimination from an employer may impact an employee or applicant’s ability to practice their religion. If an employee or applicant uses religion as a “condition of getting hired or keeping a job” employers may be liable for religious discrimination claims. 

Contact Working Solutions Law Firm Today

Are you a New York employee experiencing religious discrimination? Is the company exhibiting employment bias by refusing to reasonably accommodate their employees? The employment law attorneys at the Law Office of Christopher Q. Davis are here to help.

With offices in New York City, Livingston, New Jersey, and Boston, Massachusetts, our legal team advises companies and employees across the Northeast. If you have questions about your rights as an employee call us today at (646) 430-7930 to schedule a free case evaluation.