What can I do if I am the victim of religious discrimination at work?
If you've experienced religious discrimination at work, you should call an attorney. Religious discrimination can take many different forms. You could be discriminated against because of your faith or because of a religious practice.
In California, the law is that an employer must make reasonable accommodations for your religious beliefs and practices. Sometimes employers retaliate against employees who take too much time off because of religious practices.
If something like that happens, number one, document it. Number two, contact an attorney. You'll usually get a free consultation and they'll be able to help you.
What a religious accommodation actually looks like
In practice, this might mean a modified schedule around a Sabbath or holy day, an exception to a dress or grooming policy, or time and space to pray during a shift. An employer generally only has to grant it if doing so wouldn't create a significant burden on the business, a standard usually called undue hardship.
Being denied an accommodation is a different legal problem from being harassed or mocked for your faith, and both are different from retaliation if you're punished for asking in the first place. You can have more than one claim running at the same time, and each gets evaluated somewhat differently.
Building the record
Save the request you made, ideally in writing, along with the response you got and who was involved. A pattern of comments about your religion, even ones framed as jokes, can matter just as much as the accommodation decision itself.
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