Expert: Michael Troy - 1/8/2004

Question
I'm a secretary that shares a typwriter with another secretary. She is always scotch typing her religious articles on the wall where the type writer is located.  Before I ask her to remove her religious articles. (I am a catholic and she is a Jehova Witness).  Does she have the right to scotch tape religious articles in the work place?

Please advise, thank you.

Answer
Hi Madeline,

First, keep in mind that I cannot provide specific legal advice here.  Your state or locality may have laws or regulations, or precedents about which I am unaware.  For authoritative legal advice, you would need to speak with an attorney licensed in your state.  I am, however, happy to discuss the issue generlly.

The First Amendment does not apply to private employers, only to governent action.  Rules regarding religious or other personal items are governed by the employer's policies, not law.  An employer can pretty much set whatever rules it wants.

The only limitation is that an employer may not creat different benefits based on religion.  For example, if an employer simply did not allow religious decorations for one particular religion, but did for all other religions, that might be regarded as religious harassment.  But if there are even handed neutral rules regarding such items (e.g. size of an item, number, location in public areas, prevention of particularly disruptive items, etc.) those would normally be allowed.

I would check with the employer to see if there is any policy, and recommend they create one if there is not.  Your coworker might also be happy to move them if you discuss it with her in a non-threatening and considerate fashion.

I hope this helps!
- Mike