On The Front Lines
Rutherford Attorneys Help Honolulu Officials Issue New Guidelines for Religious Expression in the Workplace
New Guidelines Allow for Greater Religious Expression Among City EmployeesHONOLULU-- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have worked in cooperation with the City of Honolulu to draft new guidelines that allow for greater religious expression among city employees. Following a complaint filed by Institute attorneys on behalf of Kelly Jenkins, a maintenance worker for the City of Honolulu who was prohibited from placing religious literature in common areas at work and on an employee bulletin board, Honolulu officials apologized for any violation that might have occurred and agreed to issue guidance on the City's and County's responsibility to provide reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs and practices in the workplace. Working closely with attorneys for The Rutherford Institute, the City of Honolulu's Department of Human Resources drafted comprehensive new guidelines protecting religious expression in the workplace.
Link: City and Country of Honolulu: Guidance Regarding Religion in the Workplace (PDF). You'll need the free Adobe Acrobatâ„¢ Reader to view this PDF file.
"We commend Honolulu officials for their willingness to safeguard religious expression in the workplace," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It is our hope that more employers would show a regard for the rights of their employees and a commitment to upholding the constitutional principles of religious expression and free speech."
Rutherford Institute attorneys filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii in April 2003 on behalf of Kelly Jenkins, a maintenance worker for the City of Honolulu. Beginning in 1999, Jenkins sought to place religious literature in common areas of the employee recreation center of his workplace, and to post such items on the workplace bulletin board as an informational service to other employees who might be interested. Other employees were allowed to place literature reflecting their own personal beliefs such as posters, flyers, invitations and the like in the common areas and to post such items on the workplace bulletin board. However, citing the "separation between church and state," Jenkins' supervisor informed him that he could not place religious items in the recreation center or in other common areas of the workplace. In their complaint, Institute attorneys charged that Jenkins' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated, as well as his rights under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Both Jenkins and the City of Honolulu have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in light of the City of Honolulu's issuance of new guidelines for religious accommodation in the workplace. In addition to allowing City of Honolulu employees to freely express their religious beliefs at work, provided they do not harass fellow employees or interfere with work requirements, the new guidelines prohibit managers from singling out employees for restrictions based on the content of their religious expression or because other employees object to or are offended by the content of the religious employee's beliefs. The new guidelines effectively limit the power of managers and supervisors to censor religious expression outside a concern for the productivity of the work environment and the appropriateness of the way employees express their religious beliefs.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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