April 24, 2000
Bill would
protect faith in workplace
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--Seeking to protect workers from having to choose between their job and observing their faith, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Workplace Religious Freedom Act April 11.
___Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., held a joint press conference with religious leaders to show the broad backing of the bill.
___Nadler said the bill would bring "real meaning to the unfulfilled promise" of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that was amended in 1972 to ensure religious freedom on the job. He said a 1977 Supreme Court ruling gutted the protection by relieving an employer of the duty to accommodate an employee's religious observances if the employer had shown "any meaningful effort whatsoever."
___"Our bill will even the balance," Nadler said. "It will not cripple American business," but it will lead to a "fair and reasonable result."
___Under the proposed act, employers would be required to accommodate their employee's religious practices unless the accommodation were to place an "undue burden" on the employer, such as a "significant difficulty or expense."
___Other sponsors of the bill include Reps. Charles Canady, R-Fla.; William Goodling, R-Pa.; Martin Frost, D-Texas; and Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. The group is expecting more sponsors.
___Also speaking at the press conference were representatives from a broad coalition of religious and civil-liberties groups.
___Nathan Diament of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America issued a written statement, saying that in various workplaces: "Orthodox Jews have been pressed to work on Saturdays, Muslim women have been told to remove their head scarves, and devout Christians have been told to punch in on Christmas. In the land of religious freedom, this situation is unacceptable."
___Melissa Rogers, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee, said the bill "formulates a way to balance the competing legitimate interests of the employee to practice his or her religion and employers to operate a business."
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