Religious Discrimination in Maryland
Religious Discrimination in Maryland: Your Rights Under State and Federal Law
The Right to a Religious Accommodation in Maryland
Like federal law, Maryland law requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs or practices — such as a flexible schedule for religious observance, an exception to a dress code, or time and space for prayer — unless doing so would cause the employer an “undue hardship.”
Worth knowing: as with DC, it isn’t fully clear whether Maryland courts and the MCCR apply the Groff standard identically under state law, or whether Maryland’s undue hardship standard is assessed independently. This is worth discussing directly with an attorney if your accommodation request was denied.
Maryland's Employer Coverage
Maryland’s FEPA applies to employers with 15 or more employees — the same threshold as federal Title VII, and narrower than DC’s 1-employee threshold. If your Maryland employer has fewer than 15 employees, FEPA’s religious discrimination and accommodation protections likely won’t apply, though Title VII’s protections generally require the same 15-employee threshold as well.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in Maryland?
- Administrative complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR): generally 300 days from the discriminatory act — extended from the previous 180-day (six-month) deadline by a 2021 law aligning Maryland’s deadline with the federal EEOC deadline.
- EEOC charge (for federal Title VII claims): also 300 days, since Maryland has a state agency enforcing its own anti-discrimination law — both deadlines now run in parallel.
- Harassment claims specifically: 2 years to file with MCCR, measured from the last incident of harassment.
- Maryland generally requires exhausting the administrative process (MCCR or EEOC) before filing a civil lawsuit under FEPA — unlike DC, which allows filing directly in court.
- A 2022 amendment to Maryland law now tolls (pauses) the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit while an administrative charge or complaint is pending — giving employees more breathing room than under the prior rule.
What Counts as Religious Discrimination in Maryland?
Religious discrimination can include:
- Refusal to hire, promote, or fairly compensate someone because of their religion or lack of religious belief
- Religious harassment or a hostile work environment
- Denial of a reasonable religious accommodation without a genuine showing of undue hardship
- Retaliation against an employee who requests an accommodation or reports religious discrimination
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Workers who successfully bring a religious discrimination or accommodation claim in Maryland may be entitled to:
- Reinstatement or a comparable position
- Back pay and front pay
- Compensatory damages, including for emotional distress
- Punitive damages, where the employer acted with actual malice or ill intent
- Attorney’s fees and costs
Note on damages: Maryland’s compensatory and punitive damages are generally capped at levels mirroring Title VII — ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 depending on employer size — narrower than the DCHRA’s uncapped damages available to DC workers.
Talk to a Maryland Religious Discrimination Attorney
Or call 301.245.3035 · Intake@WilkenfeldLO.com