When can clerks refuse to serve, citing religion?

Can a cashier or clerk wish a customer “Merry Christmas”?

Must a pharmacist dispense birth control devices if his faith forbids it?

Can a Muslim clerk refuse to touch a whisky or beer bottle, or a pork chop?

Disputes between retailers and employees over religious beliefs in the United States can be traced back to the Puritans, who established laws that retail stores must not open on Sundays. Hundreds of years later, retailers are still dealing with how to address an employee’s religious practices.

Religious discrimination complaints to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have been rising over the past 10 years. Last year, the EEOC received 2,541 complaints, up 48 percent from 1,709 in 1997.

The commission has found that about 60 percent of the cases have “no reasonable cause” and about 4 percent to 10 percent do have a reasonable cause.

In Minnesota, Target has been the subject of scrutiny since a Minneapolis Star Tribune reported earlier this month that some Muslim supermarket cashiers ask non-Muslim co-workers or customers to scan pork products for them. They’re following a strict interpretation of the Koran, which forbids touching pork products.

Unlike the Puritans, today’s workers are armed with Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination in the workplace. Under it, employers are required to make “reasonable accommodations” for an employee’s religious beliefs. “Reasonable” is defined as something that doesn’t create “undue hardship” on the employer or co-workers.

The law leaves room for interpretation. When an accusation of religious discrimination is filed against a company, it often becomes news.

“The wording of Title VII is pretty broad. It’s up to the courts to decide in many of these issues,” says Matthew McReynolds, a staff attorney at Pacific Justice Institute, a Sacramento, Calif., legal-assistance group that represents individuals in civil liberties cases, including religious discrimination issues.

Other recent incidents, which haven’t all led to lawsuits, include:

• Former employee Alicia Hedum sued Starbucks earlier this year, saying she was scrutinized and fired for wearing a Wiccan cross. She says co-workers in the Oregon coffee shop were allowed to wear Christian crosses. Starbucks, in court filings, denied the claim.

• A Christian woman in California says her religious beliefs prevented her from using alcoholic beverages so she couldn’t handle alcohol in a Rite-Aid warehouse. The case was settled by the woman with the help of Pacific Justice Institute. Mr. McReynolds, of Pacific Justice Institute, says he couldn’t discuss the settlement because there’s a strict confidentiality clause.

• Drugstore chains such as Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid and recently, Kroger, have had to clarify company policy on dispensing contraceptives after newspapers reported that some pharmacists refused to fill the prescriptions because of religious or moral principles.

• In 2005, Wal-Mart instructed employees to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” prompting boycotts from Christian groups. Last year, Wal-Mart reversed its decision.

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