Conflicts of Interest w/Volunteering and Employment?

Question

I think there are situations where conflicts of interest could arise with a job applicant or employee and his volunteer work.

1. Applicant does volunteer work for his church and writes it in his resume. But he finds out that his boss, CEO, or other top exec(s) is(are) atheist or agnostic and are personally offended when reading about the church work.

2. Applicant volunteers with an organization whose economic, philosophical, political, or religious goals/missions are not in accordance with those of his employer. For instance, a employee may volunteer for a organization that distributes care packages to U.S. troops when his boss is active in the anti-war movement. Or an employee may volunteer for a group that is working to elect a political candidate that his company execs mostly do not support.

The question is this: Is there any recourse action the employer may take, up to an including lawsuits for any of the above scenarios?

Answer 1

Affiliations with political groups are protected against discrimination and/or retaliation in most states. Federal law protects the employee/applicant for religious affiliation.

The question is this: Is there any recourse action the employer may take, up to an including lawsuits for any of the above scenarios?

Generally no the employer can not but there are some organizations that are not protected by federal law so in some states those may be subject to legal action. ALSO there is the consideration of what the activity is, how it affects job performance or the operation of the business and what group or organization is involved. the employer does have the right to take certain actions in regard to protected groups if there is an undo hardship caused to the business.

IF you meant is there any action the EMPLOYEE can take the answer is YES. The laws do require that first the employers system is used to report discrimination or retaliation, then you can file a complaint with the states civil rights commission or the EEOC.  After they determine a course of action and IF you disagree then civil action is usually allowed.

Claiming and proving that an adverse job action has taken place are two very different things.

Your first scenario claims that a resume was read and someone took offense but does not claim an adverse job action happened due to those facts. If that was what the implication is, then the employer could easily disprove that claim by simply presenting evidence of non-agnostics or non-atheist being employed by the business.

In your second scenario it would be a little easier to prove discrimination because you would have a work record and other employees in the same position to compare adverse job actions to. Proving discrimination/retaliation is much easier to do when it involves those who are already employed and have a proven work record prior to the discrimination taking place.

EDIT:

to answer your edited question about the first scenairio..........

NO!!!!

Answer 2

Second jobs and volunteer work outside of work hours that do not interfere with your primary job are not normally a problem.  The situations you described are an example of political or philosophical differences of opinion.  They are not a direct conflict of interest, such as working for a competitor, a customer or a supplier.  If there is a direct conflict of interest, it would be reasonable for a company to take action to investigate, mitigate, or eliminate the conflict.

It is normal for employees to have a range of different opinions in a workplace and people still have to be able to work together.  The fact that you have a different opinion about something and express it through your volunteer activities is no reason for your company to respond in a negative fashion.

EDIT:

Based on the "additional details" you added, I would add that you have constitutional protections in the area of freedom of speech and religious freedom.  Your boss cannot take you to court for these protected activities outside of work time.