What should an HR manager do if he or she overhears a derogatory comment about another employee's religion?

It's important for an HR manager to stay in touch with what's happening in the workplace. If you observe or overhear an act of religious harassment you have a duty to act. You'll want to first notify the offender's supervisor; then privately take the offender aside for counseling concerning your employer's policy regarding respect in the workplace. You'll also want to speak to the target of harassment to assure him that your organization will not tolerate any kind of religious harassment or discrimination, and to urge him to let an appropriate person know if he has been the subject of harassing comments.

If the derogatory comment was an isolated occurrence and no more has been said, it probably will not constitute religious harassment. It would be different, however, if a group of employees engaged in a pattern of verbal attacks on an employee, ridiculing his religion, openly and repeatedly making derogatory remarks, including at staff meetings and in front of their supervisor. If the supervisor failed to stop the attacks, the pattern of conduct would be sufficiently severe and pervasive to alter the co-worker's working conditions and would constitutes religious harassment, according to EEOC guidelines.

Hostile environment harassment. Title VII protects employees from a religiously hostile work environment, whether created by a supervisor or co-workers. As in cases of sexual or racial harassment, whether a particular employee's work environment is hostile for purposes of religious discrimination depends on the totality of the circumstances. This includes the frequency and severity of the harassing conduct, whether the conduct is physically threatening or humiliating, and whether the conduct unreasonably interferes with the employee's work performance. The key question is whether, on balance, the harassing conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment, when judged both objectively (using the reasonable person standard) and subjectively (from the actual perspective of the affected individual).

Repeated use of religiously derogatory language can constitute hostile environment religious harassment. A single incident, if sufficiently severe, could also constitute harassment. Also relevant to whether there is a hostile environment is whether those engaging in the harassing conduct are co-workers or supervisors, whether the employer knew or should have known of the harassing conduct, and the actions, if any, the employer took to prevent or stop the conduct. An employer that takes prompt and effective action to stop religiously harassing conduct may avoid liability for that conduct.