Religion, Human Rights, and the Workplace : Judicial Balancing in the United States Federal Courts and the European Court of Human Rights

Religious freedom is a fundamental and relatively uncontested right in both the United States and Europe. But other values like equality, justice, and the right to a private life are just as precious. Managing such conflicts has become a highly contested and politicized area of law and nowhere are such conflicts more evident – or more challenging – than those arising in the workplace.

By comparing United States Federal Courts’ approach to free exercise in the workplace with that of the European Court of Human Rights, this book explores two very different methodologies for adjudicating rights conflicts. In examining methods and results, case by case, issue by issue and addressing each step of the analytical processes taken by judges, it becomes apparent that the United States has lost its way in the quest for equality and justice. It is argued here that while the European approach has its own flaws, its proportionality approach may offer vital lessons for United States practice.

The book will make compelling reading for researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of law and religion, human rights law, constitutional law, and comparative law.