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June 11, 2004/Sivan 22 5764, Vol. 56, No. 38
ACLU, Jewish groups at odds
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Jewish organizations are battling a leading civil liberties group to help pass new laws on religious freedom in the workplace.
After months of back-room discussions with the bill's supporters, the American Civil Liberties Union has decided to oppose the Workplace Reli-gious Freedom Act, which the Jewish community has been pushing for years.
The ACLU campaign against the legislation comes just as proponents had become increasingly optimistic that the U.S. Senate, which has sat on the legislation for more than a decade, would vote on the bill by the end of the year.
The ACLU campaign could complicate progress on a measure that has long been a priority for some Jewish groups.
The legislation has not yet been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The legislation, known as WRFA, would give employees the right to seek accommo-dations for their religious practices as long as they do not create an undue hardship for the employer.
It would give observant Jews the right to wear head coverings and other religious garb, take time off for Shabbat and holidays and participate in religious practices at work.
Though earlier civil rights bills gave religious protection, Jewish groups say the courts have undermined those pro-visions by ruling that almost any inconvenience posed an undue hardship on employers.
The proposed legislation would define an undue hardship as a significant cost - financial or logistical - to the place of business.
The bill has languished in Congress over the years because of private concerns raised by labor and business.
The bill now has gained the backing of Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and John Kerry (D-Mass.), the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. It also has support from several other religious groups, such as the National Association of Evangelicals and the Southern Baptist Convention.
In a seven-page memo sent to all U.S. Senate offices last week, the ACLU claimed the legislation could create scenarios in which people use their religious practices as a crutch to violate the civil rights of others.
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