Employment discrimination laws prohibit discriminating against applicants and employees on religious grounds. But the situation becomes infinitely murkier when making accommodations for this protected trait leads to an apparent justification of discrimination against a different protected class.
The attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw consider a situation in which a company is interviewing a candidate for a position at its firm. At the end of the interview the candidate shakes hands with all but the female interviewers, explaining that he does not engage in that practice. The candidate does not mention religion, but the interviewers can infer from his résumé that the refusal is on religious grounds.
