Court: Religion slurs made for hostile workplaceFriday, August 01, 2008NEWARK – Derogatory comments about a Jewish police officer’s religion were more than just teasing and constituted a hostile work environment, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled yesterday.The decision could have widespread impact, as the court determined that the standard for demonstrating religious discrimination is the same as that for sexual or racial harassment.The 5-0 decision by New Jersey’s highest court upheld a Camden County jury ruling in favor of the Haddonfield police officer Jason Cutler. It reversed an appellate ruling that characterized the remarks as “teasing.” Two justices did not participate.A lawyer for the police department said the ruling means ethnic jokes are essentially barred from the workplace, but a Jewish civil rights group applauded the ruling because it would encourage employees to think twice before making such remarks.In rejecting arguments that the remarks aimed at Cutler, who has since been promoted to sergeant, were harmless teasing, the court determined he “suffered severe or pervasive harassment that was unwelcome.”

My Letter to the Editor:Editor,As an atheist, I was very happy to read of the NJ Supreme Court?s decision that religion-based slurs contribute to a hostile work environment. New Jersey is flush with diversity ? a fact of which all New Jerseans should be proud – and we have no place for ignorance and bigotry. Some may attack this ruling as ?political correctness gone too far?, but I disagree. I hope this sends a clear message that intolerance based on religion (or lack thereof) is not to be tolerated.American Atheists (www.atheists.org) is America?s oldest nonprofit organization by and for the nonreligious population.Sincerely,David SilvermanNJ State DirectorAmerican Atheists Piscataway, NJ

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.