The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published two new “Question-and-Answer” (Q&A) documents addressing workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and accommodation of Muslim and Middle Eastern employees. One document focuses on employers’ obligation not to discriminate, and the other focuses on the rights of individuals under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Both documents merely restate current interpretations of existing law.
In a statement accompanying the release of the documents, EEOC Chair Jenny Yang referred to “tragic events at home and abroad” driving the need for employers and employees to be aware of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against “vulnerable communities.”
Invoking the recent terror attacks in Paris, France and San Bernardino, CA, as well as “other recent world events,” the EEOC cites “heightened concerns about workplace protections for all employees, including individuals who are, or are perceived to be, Muslim or Middle Eastern,” and indicates it has released the two question-and-answer sheets in an effort “to help people better understand their rights.”
Copies of the employee and employer documents are available here and here, respectively.