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Does Employment Accommodation Include Saying Merry Christmas?

By Howard M. Friedman

How far does the obligation extend under employment discrimination laws to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs? A a href="http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100amp;PRID=760"release/a yesterday by Liberty Counsel publicizing a case in Panama City, Florida raises the issue. Officials at Counts Oakes Resort Properties, a property management company, instructed employees to answer phones this month with the greeting "Happy Holidays." Tonia Thomas objected on the ground that her religious beliefs prevented her from contributing to the secularization of Christmas. She requested an accommodation to permit her to either say "Merry Christmas" or continue answering phones in the same way as they are answered all year. Her employer refused and ultimately fired her for insubordination. Thomas has filed a complaint with the EEOC.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 23, 2008 (boomark / email).