Department of Labor launches new Center for Faith website targeting religious discrimination

In a bid to combat rising cases of religious discrimination, the United States Department of Labor has launched a new website for its Center for Faith, with resources for Christians and other Americans who may have faced religious discrimination in the workplace.

The move fulfills a portion of President Donald Trump’s executive order that created the White House Faith Office and Centers for Faith within each federal agency. 

Through the Center for Faith at the U.S. Department of Labor, faith-based organizations can maximize their participation in grant funding opportunities and minimize regulatory burdens, according to the website. The center also works to engage “faith organizations to defend religious liberty and lift up individuals through the dignity of work and self-sufficiency; and to combat anti-Christian, anti-Semitic bias, as well as all forms of religious discrimination.”

“Americans should not face discrimination in the workplace because of their religion. Our new Center for Faith website offers helpful guidance for American workers and faith organizations interested in competing for grants at the Department of Labor,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, Americans’ right to religious freedom is more protected than ever before.”

Data cited by the Survey Center on American Life shows that in 2009, only about 42% of white Evangelical Christians said “Evangelical Christians” in the U.S. faced a lot of discrimination. In 2023, some 60% reported that they believe Evangelical Christians regularly face discrimination.

In 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a massive increase in religious discrimination complaints, jumping from 2,111 in 2021 to over 13,000 in 2022. Objections to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate primarily drove these complaints.

On Tuesday, the EEOC announced it had resolved charges of religious and disability discrimination against a leading global technology company involving the granting of vaccination exemptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company agreed to pay $15 million as part of a three-year conciliation agreement but admitted no wrongdoing.

“There was no pandemic exception to workers’ civil rights and liberties,” EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the EEOC is focused on accountability and delivering results for American workers. Title VII and the ADA require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs and qualifying disabilities unless they can demonstrate undue hardship,” she explained. “When employers fail to meet that obligation, the Commission will act. This resolution makes clear that America’s workplaces must remain open to employees of faith and to workers with disabilities.”

The technology firm, which has locations in 12 U.S. states, was accused of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits “discrimination because of an individual’s religion and requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs, observance or practice unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.”

The government says the company also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, which “requires the accommodation of disabilities absent undue hardship, and prohibits employers from discharging an employee because of their disability or because they engaged in protected activity by requesting an accommodation.”

“We are pleased we were able to reach a resolution of this matter,” Melinda Caraballo, director of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, said. “The company’s agreement to review and revise its equal employment opportunity policies and report these changes to the EEOC are important steps in ensuring a workplace free of discrimination.”