HR told me I was fired for not losing my religion

Well, not me. But, a former employee claimed it happened to him. So, let’s cue R.E.M. and talk about religious expression in the workplace.

According to the complaint filed in federal court, the plaintiff had the chops to succeed at his job. However, a new manager, “by his derogatory language and attitude,” singled out the plaintiff because of his “Christian faith.” Later, when the plaintiff met with HR, he claims the HR representative communicated that the company had terminated him because “not everyone he worked with at Defendant’s facility is Christian, [and] that [he] can’t talk about his Christian faith under any circumstances in the workplace.”

So, the plaintiff brought a religious discrimination claim under Title VII, which makes it unlawful for employers to “discharge any individual . . . because of such individual’s. . . religion.” To establish his claim of disparate treatment, the plaintiff had to establish that he suffered an adverse employment action (i.e., his termination) because of his religion.

The defendant moved to dismiss the religious discrimination claim. On a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff merely needs to plead facts that “nudge his claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Here, the court concluded that the plaintiff had eclipsed this low bar:

[The plaintiff] claims that he was “singled out and harassed” because of his Christian faith. Specifically, [he] alleges that, when he was fired, he was told “not everyone he worked with at Defendant’s facility is Christian” and that he “can’t talk about his Christian faith under any circumstances in the workplace.” Being told he was not allowed to discuss “his Christian faith under any circumstances” at the same meeting where [Defendant] terminated him renders plausible the inference that [the plaintiff] was fired because of his religion.

EEOC guidance on this issue is consistent with the court’s ruling. Employees may discuss religion with co-workers, and Title VII requires that employers accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief in engaging in religious expression in the workplace unless it causes undue hardship on the operation of the business. So, an employer does not have to allow an employee’s proselytizing if it interferes with work. For example, employers can end proselytizing if co-workers complain about it. Employers can “restrict religious expression where it would cause customers or co-workers reasonably to perceive the materials to express the employer’s own message.”

However, employers who try to suppress all religious expression in the workplace may end up defending a discrimination claim like this one.