Dara Wanzer Quoted in Journal Record Story on Spike in Religion-based EEOC Claims

McAfee & Taft attorney Dara Wanzer was interviewed for a Journal Record article about the spike within the past decade in religious-discrimination claims has prompted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue new guidelines clarifying the issue for employers and employees. Claims have jumped nearly 70 percent between 1997 and 2007.

Wanzer told the Journal Record that the new guidelines were driven by an increase in religious diversity in the U.S. workplace as well as the ever-growing volume of charges that agency personnel must cope with. The new compliance-manual section does not create any new obligations for employers, she said.

"It merely addresses and advised on what constitutes religion and the cope of Title VII's prohibition of disparate treatment and retaliation on account of religion," Wanzer said.

"It provides some suggestions on how to balance an employee’s right to religious expression in the workplace against an employer’s need to maintain an efficient and productive workplace that’s not offensive to coworkers and visitors."

Read the entire article here.