|
Business and Human Rights: a resource website |
Religious freedom & the workplace
See also sections of this website entitled:
under construction
United Nations & ILO websites:
under construction
Other websites:
Religion: Novo Nordisk equal opportunities toolbox in Novo Nordisk equal opportunities toolbox (Novo Nordisk)
2003:
ILO launches first global report on discrimination at work - Says workplace discrimination remains a persistent global problem, with new, more subtle forms emerging (International Labour Organization, 12 May 2003)
New fact sheets outline protections against discrimination by multinational employers - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) tomorrow will post two new fact sheets - "Employee Rights when Working for Multinational Employers" and "The Equal Employment Opportunity Responsibilities of Multinational Employers" - on the agency's web site. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 24 Apr. 2003)
An Age Of Discrimination? The U.S. sees an increase in suits complaining of age and religious bias -...Although EEOC complaints are relatively easy to file, they face tough outcomes. Only about 20 percent of the complainants prevail. [refers to age discrimination complaint against Seal Dynamics; religious discrimination complaint against Computer Sciences Corp., Foot Locker Inc., Ford Motor Co.] (Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday, 23 Mar. 2003)
Suit Alleging Firm Aided Genocide Proceeds - A Southern District of New York federal judge has refused to dismiss claims that a Canadian oil company abetted genocide by the government of Sudan against its own people. Talisman Energy Inc. had asked Judge Allen G. Schwartz to dismiss the case brought by plaintiffs who said the company was complicit in a campaign of kidnapping, rape, murder and land confiscation conducted by the government against non-Muslim residents who lived within a 50-mile radius of oil fields and transport systems. (Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal, in New York Lawyer, 20 Mar. 2003)
Pakistani-American Workers to Share $1.11 Million in Harassment Settlement with Stockton Steel [subsidiary of Herrick Corp.] [USA] - Muslim Employees Ridiculed While Engaging In Prayer Obligations, EEOC Suit Says (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 19 Mar. 2003)
Employers 'wide open' to discrimination claims [UK] - UK employers are leaving themselves wide open to discrimination claims according to the Work Foundation. The survey of business recruitment practices found that firms were failing to monitor racial and sexual diversity amongst jobseekers...It is illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants on the basis of sex, disability or race. It will soon become illegal to discriminate on grounds of age, sexual orientation and religion. (BBC News, 10 Mar. 2003)
Ministry focuses on workers’ rights [Fiji] - “Every working person has the right and should be able to enjoy a working environment free from all forms of harassment and discrimination whether on the basis of ethnicity, nationality or social origin, religion, political affiliation, gender or any other form of personal identity,” he [Labour Minister Kenneth Zinck] said. Mr Zinck pointed out it was the responsibility of all employers to ensure there was an internal policy on sexual harassment in the workplace. (Daily Post [Fiji], 23 Feb. 2003)
EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and Pinnacle Nissan [a Scottsdale, Arizona-based automobile dealership] Settle National Origin and Religious Harassment Lawsuit -...the EEOC alleged that six former employees of Pinnacle Nissan were subjected to a hostile working environment on the basis of national origin, Middle Eastern and Hispanic, and one former employee was subjected to a hostile work environment because of his religion, Jewish. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 19 Feb. 2003)
Brink's to pay $30,000 to Peoria area woman for failure to accommodate religious beliefs [USA] - EEOC Suit Said Pentecostal Employee Fired for Refusal to Wear Pants as Part of Uniform (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2 Jan. 2003)
2002:
Muslim ex-worker sues Chick-fil-A for discrimination [USA] - Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is disputing a Muslim employee's claim that he was fired for religious reasons. (Caroline Wilbert, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 23 Oct. 2002)
Muslim worker wins right to pray [Australia] (Natalie Davison, AAP, 15 Oct. 2002)
Muslims Snubbed in Discrimination Laws [Australia] - Kamal El-Masri, a member of the Australian Services Union, has been threatened with dismissal from telecommunications company TPG over his commitment to praying, in his own time, at work. (Labor Council of NSW [New South Wales], Workers Online, 11 Oct. 2002)
Virgin Airlines Settles Case, Allowing Time Off for Religion [USA] - Virgin Atlantic Airlines has agreed to a settlement of a religious freedom case that will require the carrier to allow an employee time off from work for religious observances (Robin Pogrebin, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2002)
Survey: Nearly 90 percent Indian firms have no human rights policy -..."Only 12 per cent of the companies surveyed responded that they have a policy on human rights, with another 35 percent saying they had a policy on anti-discrimination against women/ men, caste and religion." (CSR World, based on article in The Business Standard [India], 15 Apr. 2002)