What the law says
California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits harassment based on religious creed, including religious beliefs, observance, dress and grooming, and lack of religious belief. It is unlawful when severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile, intimidating or offensive work environment. A single severe incident can be enough.
Examples
- Slurs or jokes about someone's religion.
- Mocking religious dress, prayer or dietary practices.
- Calling a coworker a terrorist or making similar stereotypes.
- Repeated, unwelcome pressure to adopt or abandon a religion.
- Vandalizing a prayer space or religious items.
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Coworkers may share their beliefs, but repeated unwelcome pressure after being asked to stop can become harassment. Supervisors pressuring subordinates about religion raise special concerns.
Who is responsible
The person doing the harassing can be held personally liable. The employer is generally strictly liable when the harasser is a supervisor. When the harasser is a coworker or customer, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. A strong written complaint is often what establishes that the employer knew.
When harassment overlaps with other claims
Religious harassment often comes with other unlawful conduct. A supervisor who mocks an employee's faith may also deny religious schedule or dress accommodations, give worse assignments, or retaliate after a complaint. Each of these can be a separate claim. Harassment based on a perceived religion, or on association with people of a religion, is also covered, so an employee mistaken for Muslim or Jewish, for example, is protected.
What you may recover
Remedies can include lost wages if the harassment led to a termination or resignation, emotional distress damages, punitive damages in egregious cases, and attorney fees.
What to do
- Keep a log of incidents and witnesses.
- Report it in writing and keep a copy.
- Note whether the employer takes action.
- Talk to a lawyer; a CRD complaint generally must be filed within three years.
Read the full guide
This page covers one part of a larger topic. Our complete guide explains the rest: the laws that protect you, how claims are proven, what you can recover and the deadlines that apply.
How your case works with us
Most employees have never hired a lawyer before. Here's what working with us looks like, from the first call to resolution.
- Free, confidential consultation. We listen to what happened, review any documents you have, and tell you honestly whether you have a claim, which laws apply, and which deadlines matter.
- Investigation. We gather your personnel file, payroll records, and communications, identify witnesses, and request records your employer is legally required to provide.
- Agency filings, when required. For claims under FEHA, we file with the California Civil Rights Department and obtain a right-to-sue notice so your case can proceed in court.
- Demand and negotiation. Many cases resolve through a demand letter, early negotiation, or mediation, without a trial.
- Litigation, if needed. If your employer won't do right by you, we file suit and are prepared to take the case through discovery and trial or arbitration.
Fees. Most employment cases are handled on a contingency basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover money for you, and many California employment laws require the employer to pay your attorney fees if you win.