Recent trends reveal that employment retaliation claims are on the rise.  Further, courts are taking a hard line on offending employers accused of retaliation in employment.  A review of United States Supreme Court decisions in retaliation cases reveals a remarkable degree of agreement among the Justices.  Even conservative Justices who are considered supportive of business as a matter of judicial philosophy do not take kindly to retaliation against employees who have asserted workplace legal claims.

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Rick Sanchez, a CNN daytime anchor, was fired last week for going off on Jon Stewart and people like him. He did this in a radio interview. Jon Stewart came up because Stewart has repeatedly mocked Sanchez on The Daily Show. As Sanchez continued to talk, it became obvious that “the people like Stewart” were Jews. I’m not sure Sanchez said anything that was really anti-Semitic, but he did take a shot or two at Jews during the interview.

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According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Muslim employees filed a record 803 religious discrimination charges for the year ended September 30, 2009. That’s up 20% over the year before. That exceeds the number of charges filed in the year after 9/11. There’s little doubt that these charges will set another record for the year ending September 30, 2010. The EEOC has taken this spike in Muslim-related religious discrimination charges seriously, filing several lawsuits on behalf of Muslim workers.

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This week’s tip involved an employer’s right to control the attire worn by employees. One other point that needs to be made involves dress and religion. That necessarily raises the matter of providing a reasonable accommodation to an employee to dress differently from other employees because of religious beliefs. (See a post I did last week on a different aspect of religious accommodation.)

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As you’ve undoubtedly heard, about 11 years ago, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Delaware, Christine O’Donnell, admitted that she dabbled in witchcraft when she was in high school. (Here) This news has traveled all over the place and has become a political issue in the Senate race. The ensuing hubbub is significant for employers, not because of politics, but because it raises an important issue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prevents religious discrimination.

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Last week’s news about the clothing of a female sports reporter named Ines Sainz and the reaction by New York Jets players is still in play. My post on the subject provoked a few mixed comments and several private emails, some agreeing with me, some not. Since it’s still talked and written about, often in the context of sex discrimination or sexual harassment, it seemed to justify a tip of the week.

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Shatkin, Shifflett, Maples and Knight worked together as administrative assistants. Shatkin, Shifflett and Maples didn’t  get along with Knight. These three employees had strong religious beliefs and decided to seek a higher power’s help in dealing with Knight. After the workday had ended and Knight had left for the day, Shatkin, Shifflett and Maples gathered at Knight’s cubicle. Shatkin rubbed olive oil on the metal doorway of the cubicle to invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit. Shifflett began chanting to remove the demons that possessed Knight. Maples offered an amen.

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We are all familiar with the high-profile battle in Manhattan over constructing a mosque near ground zero. According to a recent article in the New York Times, a furor over mosque-building is sweeping the country. From New York to Tennessee to Wisconsin to California, proposals to erect mosques in various locations have been met with vociferous opposition. Whether this uproar is caused by 9/11, fear of terrorism, religious misunderstanding, a sincere belief that Islam is antithetical to the foundation of America, or whatever, a word about employment law may be worthwhile.

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