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Because of course.
The worst part is that this move, which would allow contractors who fire workers to raise the defense of religious liberty, isn't primarily religious bigotry. Primarily, it's just another giveaway to corporations and blow to worker rights.
The Department of Labor proposed a rule Wednesday allowing “religion-exercising organizations” with federal contracts to raise religious exemptions if accused of bias in their hiring practices.
The Labor Department said the proposal, which is set to officially be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, is intended to help companies “make employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious tenets and beliefs without fear of sanction by the federal government.”
The Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which regulates federal anti-discrimination requirements for businesses and other organizations that work with the government, said the rule applies to both religious companies as well as “closely held” groups acting in accordance with their owners’ religious beliefs and is based on past laws and court rulings detailing protections for certain groups.
“Today’s proposed rule helps to ensure the civil rights of religious employers are protected,” acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella said in a statement. “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.”
The proposal will be open for public comments until Sept. 16.
Advocacy groups have long warned that such protections intend to provide cover for groups with discriminatory hiring practices.
“The Department of Labor just proposed a rule that aims to let government contractors fire workers who are LGBTQ, or who are pregnant and unmarried, based on the employers’ religious views,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) tweeted after the proposal was announced. “This is taxpayer-funded discrimination in the name of religion. Period.”
“This rule seeks to undermine our civil rights protections and encourages discrimination in the workplace — and we will work to stop it,” the group added.
https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...abor-grants-businesses-with-federal-contracts
Importantly, this doesn't only apply to expressly religious organization, but rather any that purports to have a religious purpose, even if it's not central to their charter:
The 46-page draft rule from the Labor Department would apply to a range of so-called religious organizations — including corporations, schools, and societies — provided that they claim a “religious purpose.”Perhaps most concerning of all, this presents another fulcrum for the Trump Justice Department to try to force the EEOC to take their anti-worker stances in an attempt to weaponize the worker protection organization against workers like the EPA has been weaponized against the environment:
But the Trump administration makes clear in the draft rule that a corporation needn’t focus entirely on religion to qualify, saying, “The contractor must be organized for a religious purpose, meaning that it was conceived with a self-identified religious purpose. This need not be the contractor’s only purpose.”
“A religious purpose can be shown by articles of incorporation or other founding documents, but that is not the only type of evidence that can be used,” says the rule, which grants companies many opportunities to claim that faith or morals guide their purpose.
Labor Department spokesperson Megan Sweeney confirmed to BuzzFeed News on Wednesday that the rule could protect for-profit corporations with federal contracts if they discriminate, given they make a religious claim.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...st-proposal-would-let-businesses-discriminate
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Justice Department are split on the issue. The DOJ has recently tried to pull the worker civil rights agencyinto line with its opinion.
The EEOC enforces federal anti-discrimination laws against a wide range of employers and federal contractors. The OFCCP specifically focuses on an executive order banning discrimination by contractors. Unlike Title VII, the order explicitly outlaws workplace bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“OFCCP is consistently looking for ways to bring clarity and certainty to federal contractors, and this proposal falls squarely within that effort,” OFCCP Director Craig Leen said in an Aug. 14 statement. “The rulemaking process allows the public opportunity to comment on the proposal and impact any potential final rule.”
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily...says-religious-contractors-free-from-bias-law
I don't see where this allows for firing someone based on race which the thread title purports it does.