We have a situation. One of our senior managers is pushing his religion. He prays at meetings and holds prayer groups and Bible studies. He insists they are “voluntary,” but his employees feel that if they don’t attend, they won’t get a shot at raises and promotions. What should I do about a manager who proselytizes at work? — Martin, HR Manager in Ventura
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You raise a very relevant and sensitive issue. Organizations across the nation are trying to balance employee legal rights with the need for high productivity among employees of multiple backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures.
Your situation is especially difficult because the person involved is a senior manager. He would be considered an “agent” of your organization, meaning that to your employees and third parties (such as the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing) he represents your organization’s policies, practices, philosophy, and culture. The concerns your employees raise attest to their perception that he has the company’s power and authority to act against them if they do not participate in activities he sponsors and facilitates. All of this means that your manager is putting your organization at a high risk for a lawsuit.
The Balancing Act
The changing demographics of our nation—and of California in particular—have resulted in integrated workforces, with many individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, languages, and beliefs. One thing the employees have in common is federal and state legal rights and protections. Equal employment opportunity provisions, the Title VII antibias law, and specific California laws require organizations to provide reasonable accommodation, prevent a hostile work environment, and prevent discrimination against employees based on their religion. (These laws also cover other “protected status” categories, such as race, sex, and national origin.)
Although employee diversity offers organizations multiple benefits, including new and unique ideas for processes, products, and research, it can also cause difficulties among employees and managers over everything from dress standards to appropriate discussion topics.
Consequently, the best balancing acts are performed by organizations with clear policies on appropriate workplace conduct, procedures for employees to report concerns, and consistent application of appropriate corrective action when needed. Adequate communication of the policies and training of all employees and managers are also very important.
Court Decisions Illustrate the Problem
Two California cases from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals help to illustrate the need to curtail manager behavior that might be, or might appear to be, biased.
In the first case, employee Lynn Noyes claimed her manager discriminated against her because she was not a member of his religious organization, the Fellowship of Friends, when he promoted an allegedly less qualified person who was a Fellowship member. Noyes presented evidence that her manager often brought in Fellowship members as temporary contractors and then appointed them to management jobs. Noyes also noted that Fellowship members held one-third of the company’s full-time jobs.
The court ruled that there was enough evidence to indicate that the decision not to promote Noyes was based on discriminatory motivation, and that Noyes did not need to prove the discrimination took place for a jury to hear the case.
This case highlights the legal risk of a manager who makes his or her religious affiliation part of the work environment, subjecting himself or herself and the organization to accusations of hostile work environment, discrimination, and favoritism. This situation can also cause poor morale, as you are experiencing, and may lead to talented employees leaving the company when they feel they do not “fit in” and cannot advance.
In the second Ninth Circuit case, Daniel Berry, an employee of a California county government agency, sued the county for allegedly violating Title VII and his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. Berry claimed the county illegally prevented him from talking about his religion, holding prayer meetings in the county’s conference room, and displaying religious items, including his Bible.
County policies restricted any discussion of religious information with clients and limited the use of its conference room to business purposes only. In trying to accommodate Berry, the county offered him alternative ways to express his religion, such as covering up his religious items or putting them in a drawer when clients were present, holding prayer meetings off-site, and praying during his breaks in the break room.
The Ninth Circuit found that the county successfully balanced the employee’s rights to exercise his religion with its duty not to appear to endorse a religion. To reach its decision, the court relied partly on the established and consistent application of the county’s policies.
Although Berry’s case involves a public employer’s obligations to the First Amendment that a private employer would not have (private employers can limit “free speech” in the workplace when it disrupts operations), the Title VII provisions would still apply to a private employer, and the case can serve as a guideline for any organization.
Clear Policies Needed
A well-written religious accommodation policy would have been very helpful to you. However, if you have an equal employment opportunity, antiharassment, or nonsolicitation policy, you probably have a basis for talking with your manager about his actions. Even if you do not currently have any of those policies in place, you will want to discuss the potential issues with him. Ensure that he recognizes your organization’s desire to accommodate him to a certain level, and that there is respect for his beliefs. He is likely then to help you find a solution. When he agrees that he must refrain from the way he is currently expressing his religious beliefs at work, and the organization agrees to an accommodation that does not cause a hardship, it can be a win-win.
Diana Gregory, SPHR, is a senior human resources specialist at the Walnut Creek office of Administaff, a professional employer organization and human resources outsourcing firm.