The comments come after four British Christians took religious
discrimination cases to the European Courts of Human Rights.
Now, the equality watchdog claim that judges have interpreted
equality law "too narrowly" and suggest that they should
accommodate both sides more.
Not doing so, they say, made it difficult for employers to protect
freedom of religion, it added.
According to the BBC, the four claimants include an airline worker
who was prevented from wearing a cross and a relationship
counsellor who refused to deal with gay couples.
The cases involve British Airways check-in clerk Nadia Eweida,
nurse Shirley Chaplin, relationship counsellor Gary McFarlane and
registrar Lilian Ladele.
John Wadham, legal group director at the commission, told the
BBC: "Our intervention in these cases would encourage judges to
interpret the law more broadly and more clearly to the benefit of
people who are religious and those who are not.
"The idea of making reasonable adjustments to accommodate a
person's needs has served disability discrimination law well for
decades.
"It seems reasonable that a similar concept could be adopted to
allow someone to manifest their religious beliefs."
