New rule favors religion in hiring

Labor Dept. proposal ‘would permit discrimination,’ foes insist.

The U.S. Labor Department has proposed a rule that would allow more federal contractors to base employment decisions on religion, a move that rights advocates said could be used to discriminate against workers for all manner of reasons.

The proposal seeks “to provide the broadest protection of religious exercise recognized by the Constitution and other laws,” the Labor Department said in a statement. It applies to a wide variety of organizations and companies that claim a religious goal as part of their mission.

Naomi Goldberg, policy research director of the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank focused on equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, said the “proposed rule would permit taxpayer-funded discrimination.”

“Examples of the type of discrimination this action condones include firing unmarried pregnant workers, workers who may not be coreligionists or who can’t sign a statement of faith,” Goldberg said.

In addition to this rule, the Trump administration is challenging other protections for gay and transgender workers. In three cases the Supreme Court will hear this fall, the administration is arguing that federal civil rights law does not prohibit employers from discriminating against such workers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had previously ruled that such discrimination is illegal.

Religious nonprofit organizations that receive federal contracts are exempt from rules covering other contractors that prevent religious discrimination. For example, a social services agency with a Jewish affiliation that receives a federal contract to feed disadvantaged children can insist on hiring a rabbi to oversee preparation of kosher food.

The proposed rule appears to expand the scope of hiring and firing decisions in which contractors can invoke their religious tenets. While it was previously unclear if an agency that receives a federal contract could insist on hiring a Jewish janitor, the proposed rule appears to resolve that question in favor of the employer.

The proposed rule would also extend the ability to discriminate in hiring and firing to all federal contractors, not just nonprofits, that identify their mission as including a religious purpose.

The public has 30 days to comment on the proposed rule, after which the department can issue a final version. Many advocates said they would expect a variety of legal challenges if it is enacted.