After reading and digesting the material in Religious Discrimination, please provide one (1) to two (2) questions that remain or arose while going over the material in that chapter.

V. Employers Duty to Reasonably Accommodate

Learning Objective Four: Define religious accommodation and guidelines to its usage.

Unlike the other categories under Title VII, the prohibition against religious discrimination is not absolute. An employer can discriminate against an employee for religious reasons if to do otherwise causes the employer undue hardship. When the employer discovers a religious conflict between the employers policy and the employees religion, the employers first responsibility is to attempt accommodation. If accommodation is not possible, the employer can implement the policy even though it has the effect of discriminating against the employee on the basis of religion.

Due to the nature of religious conflicts and the fact that they can arise in all types of contexts and in many different ways, there is not one single action an employer must take in order to show that she or she has reasonably accommodated. It depends upon the circumstances and will vary from situation to situation.

If an accommodation cannot be found, as Williams v. Southern Union Gas Company demonstrates, the employers duty is discharged. The Williams case involved an employee who was terminated for not working on Saturday, his Sabbath. The court upheld the termination because it found that the employer had tried to accommodate the employees religious conflict, but the only way it could have been done would have caused the employer undue hardship.

In the Chalmers v. Tulon Company of Richmond case, the employee believed it her religious duty to send letters to co-workers outlining what she believed to be their religious shortcomings. When one letter led to an employees wife thinking he had an affair, the court refused to find a basis for accommodation, even though the employee claimed she was doing what her religion dictated she do.