March 14, 2007 – New York – The American Jewish Committee hailed the introduction of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2007 (WRFA) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bipartisan bill, H.R.1431, introduced by Representatives Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Mark Souder (R-IN) along with 12 original cosponsors, strengthens the religious accommodation provisions of existing federal civil rights law.

“No employee should arbitrarily be forced to choose between obedience to his or her faith and keeping a job,” said Richard Foltin, AJC’s legislative director and counsel. “It is crucial that we preserve both religious freedom and integrity of the workplace.”

By requiring that employers make reasonable accommodations to an employee’s religious practice, unless doing so would impose a significant difficulty or expense, WRFA provides an important bulwark against religious discrimination in the workplace.

WRFA is supported by the Coalition for Religious Freedom in the Workplace, a broad coalition of religious and civil rights organizations that has come together to promote the passage of legislation to strengthen the religious accommodation provisions of existing civil rights law.  Foltin serves as co-chair of the coalition.