Employment Law: Quiz 11

Joanne and Lisa work for the same employer. Joanne is a devout Catholic and Lisa is a Mormon. Joanne constantly mocks Lisa for her Mormon beliefs. Lisa asked Joanne to stop several times but Joanne continues the mocking. Joanne went to her supervisor, Charles, and asked him to become involved in the situation. What should Charles do?

Ask Joanne to stop the harassing behavior because it could lead to liability for the company.

Which group has been determined by the Courts to be a religious organization?

Atheist

In deciding whether an employer has made a good faith attempt to accommodate a religious conflict, the EEOC and the courts will look to factors including which of the following?:

Did the employer attempt an accommodation? What is the cost of the accommodation?

An employer can satisfy the undue hardship requirement with respect to an accommodation of a religious conflict if the employer can show that the accommodation is merely inconvenient.

False

Joseph works for a church as a handyman. He always receives outstanding performance reports. However, recently he was terminated for failure to keep his church affiliation card current. Does Joseph have a religious discrimination claim?

No, religious organizations generally can discriminate on the basis of religion since religion is recognized as BFOQ reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business.

Which of the following is true of undue hardship as it relates to an employer's accommodation of an employee's religious belief?

The EEOC's interpretation of what constitutes undue hardship has been more stringent than the interpretation by the courts.

To establish a prima facie case of religious discrimination, a plaintiff must show which of the following?

The employee informed the employer about the religious conflict.

Which of the following are factors that the courts and the EEOC will consider when determining whether the employer has indeed reasonably accommodated the employee's religious belief?

The type of job where the conflict exists. The willingness of other employees to assist in the accommodation. The cost of the accommodation.

Which of the following statements is true about Title VII and a definition of "religion"?

Title VII was amended in 1972 to include a definition of religion that includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business.

In Peterson v. Wilmur Communications, Inc., the employer demoted an employee after he appeared in a newspaper article describing his involvement in a religion that espouses racial separation much like the Ku Klux Klan. In this case, the court determined that the claimant's faith was:

a religion under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as unorthodox, and even as repulsive, as it was.

Unions and employers:

both have a duty to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious conflict.

For an employer to be required to accommodate a religious conflict, the employee's underlying belief:

does not have to be a belief in a recognized religious deity.

Atheism cannot be considered the equivalent of a religion for the purposes of Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964).

false

As was introduced through the 1972 amendments to Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), the term religion:

includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, that do not cause undue hardship to the employer.

In a religious accommodation case, all of the following are examples of an undue hardship by an employer except:

inconveniencing the employer.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there is not an absolute prohibition against discrimination on the basis of:

religion

Title VII includes a duty to reasonably accommodate conflicts arising from which of the following protected categories?

religion only

All of the following are factors that the EEOC will consider in deciding whether the employer's accommodation would cause undue hardship except:

the religion of the employee.

Employers need to be concerned with the possibility of religious harassment in the workplace —for example, nonreligious employees complaining that they are being harassed by religious employees.

true

The issue of religion was addressed by Congress in the 1972 amendments to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

true