Comment on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) "Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment"
Comment on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) "Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment"
March 23, 2017
Access a .pdf of the letter submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, here
Access a copy of the original Press Release regarding this submission, here
At a time when the President and Congress are considering acts to expand religious exemptions at the expense of LGBTQ and other rights, a proposed federal regulation demonstrates that we can—and should—protect both religious and LGBTQ communities. The [Law, Rights, and Religion Project] at Columbia Law School have submitted commentary commending the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on their “Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment,” which protects the right of religious employees to discuss their beliefs while prohibiting religiously-motivated harassment in the workplace.
Professor Katherine Franke, Faculty Director for the [Law, Rights, and Religion Project] commented, “At a time when we are witnessing government officials engaging in both troubling violations of the Establishment Clause and blatant forms of religion-based discrimination, the EEOC’s proposed guidelines offer a reasoned and careful way to harmonize religious liberty and equality in the workplace.”
Elizabeth Reiner Platt, Director of the [Law, Rights, and Religion Project] elaborated: “The proposed guidelines respect both the right to express one's religious beliefs and the right to a safe and productive work environment. This kind of carefully tailored religious accommodation protects all workers from discrimination."
The [Law, RIghts, and Religion Project's] letter notes that nearly one in three transgender workers, and up to 43% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, have faced employment discrimination. The proposed EEOC guidelines “appropriately explain that Title VII’s duty to accommodate religion does not amount to an official sanctioning of religiously-motivated harassment-including against LGBTQ employees, who already face pervasive discrimination in the workplace.”
The EEOC’s responsibility to protect religious minorities and LGBTQ persons is of critical importance, as the Trump Administration continues to issue Executive Orders that roll back LGBTQ protections and express disapproval of Muslims. Of particular concern is a potential Executive Order on Religious Freedom. If signed, the order could provide a special license for those holding certain conservative religious beliefs— including opposition to same-sex marriage, sex outside different-sex marriage, and abortion—to violate any regulations that conflict with these beliefs.