California Workplace Religious Freedom

The most significant religious freedom issue today remains the coercive pressure faced by thousands of Americans to compromise their faith in order to keep a job. Hundreds if not thousands lose their jobs every year, rather than compromise on their religious convictions.

In California, unlike most states, claims of employment discrimination are most often pursued in state courts, rather than Federal court. For this reason, it is especially important to shore up requirements that employers accommodate the religious beliefs of workers under state law.

In 2010, the Church State Council, is planning to sponsor a bill to “tweak” the Fair Employment and Housing Act in very significant ways to resolve some of the largest problems faced by people of faith in the workplace. We have been working for several years to build a base of support for such a measure.

Your help is urgently needed. If you or anyone in your church or community has suffered religious discrimination in the workplace, we need you to tell your story. We need it in writing, and we also need for you to be willing to show up and tell the story in person, accompanied by Church State Council staff. Contact us today: mrliberty@churchstate.org.