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Religion at work - No prayers, no Bible
May 02, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
Daniel Berry was an evangelical fundamentalist Christian whose job was to assist unemployed clients transition out of welfare, and this involved frequent client interviews in his cubicle.
Berry's public employer denied Berry's wishes to be allowed to (1) share his religious views with clients in his cubicle, (2) use a conference room for voluntary prayer meetings, and (3) display religious objects (a Bible and a religious sign) in his cubicle.
The 9th Circuit said this did not violate Berry's rights under the religion clause of the 1st amendment or his rights under Title VII. Berry v. Dept of Social Services (9th Cir 05/01/2006).
| Employment Law Memo notified its readers about this case on 05/02/2006. |
1st amendment: The court used the Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 US 563 (1968) balancing test. The employer's interest in avoiding violations of the establishment clause and in having the conference room be a non-public forum outweighed Berry's free exercise of his religion at work.
Title VII: The employer was not required to accommodate Berry's religious practices because doing so would create a danger of violating the establishment clause, and thus be an undue hardship.
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Editor: Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus. email Ross@LawMemo.Com, Phone 503-399-8028. Copyright LawMemo, Inc.
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