News & Analysis as of

Corporate Counsel Religious Accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

“If we do it for you, we’ll have to do it for everybody”: 4 worst practices for employers

Accommodate, accommodate, accommodate! I started practicing law two years before Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and four years before it took effect (1992 for larger employers, 1994 for smaller...more

Cozen O'Connor

Facial Hair, Firefighters, and Free Exercise

Cozen O'Connor on

A single exception can now unravel your entire workplace safety policy. The Third Circuit's decision on May 30, 2025, in Smith v. Atlantic City, underscores how even minor exceptions to grooming or masking rules can expose...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Executive Agencies Confirm Demise of OFCCP and Identify Private Sector Enforcement Targets

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor released their 2026 Congressional Budget Justifications (CBJ) on May 30, 2025, providing valuable information related to the EEOC’s enforcement...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

EEOC may have a quorum soon: 4 things employers can expect

TL;DR: Some big changes. On Tuesday, the Trump Administration nominated Brittany Bull Panuccio to the spot on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that has been vacant since Keith Sonderling’s term expired last...more

Fisher Phillips

What Does the White House’s Executive Order on Gender + New EEOC Acting Chair Mean for Employers? 5 Key Takeaways

Fisher Phillips on

A pair of back-to-back moves from the new Trump administration demonstrates a clear shift in the way the federal government will approach EEO and anti-bias laws over the course of the next several years. On his first day in...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Cautions Employers on Deciding Legitimacy of Workers' Religious Beliefs

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers established internal procedures to evaluate employees' requests for religious and medical-based exemptions from vaccination mandates. ...more

BakerHostetler

Inoculating Employers Against Religious Discrimination Claims - Sixth Circuit Gives University Victory over Employee’s Religious...

BakerHostetler on

It is cold and flu season, and COVID-19 remains an ongoing threat. Have you inoculated your workplace against claims of religious discrimination?...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seventh Circuit: Religious Discrimination Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss Even if Request For Religious Exemption to COVID-19...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In two cases issued by the Seventh Circuit, Passarella and Dottenwhy v. Aspirus, Inc. and Bube and Hedrington v. Aspirus Hospital, Inc. the Court held that at the motion to dismiss stage, the fact that a...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Courts Reaching Consensus on Religious Exemptions From Vaccine Mandates

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers attempting to enforce safety policies faced resistance from employees opposed to vaccination mandates. In many cases, employees claimed that taking the vaccine violated...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Applying Groff, Indiana District Court Rules in Favor of Employer in Religious Accommodation Claim

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which clarified the standard for undue hardship in religious accommodation cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, a federal district court in Indiana...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Religious accommodations, Part 1: What’s a “religion”?

On September 25 a federal court in New York dismissed a lawsuit accusing an employer of failing to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs as a member of the “Temple of the Healing Spirits” located in “Deland city,...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

What's in that new EEOC guidance on workplace harassment?

It's worth a read. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, and it's quite good. Don't let the length intimidate you. If you aren't an...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Seventh Circuit Revives Teacher’s Religious Discrimination Case Over Transgender Students’ Names and Pronouns

On July 31, 2023, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals revived a Christian teacher’s religious discrimination lawsuit over his refusal to refer to transgender students by their names and pronouns with which they identified. ...more

Fisher Phillips

SCOTUS 2023 Lookback and 2024 Preview: 7 Critical Decisions All Employers Should Review and 3 New Cases to Track

Fisher Phillips on

The Supreme Court’s blockbuster decisions last term dominated the headlines – and many rulings will have a lasting impact on employer practices. The Justices continued to shape the workplace law landscape by ruling on an...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Navigating Global Religious Accommodation: Insights from Our Lawyers on Employer Responsibilities Towards Religious Beliefs in the...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a previous blog, we summarized the recent case of Groff v. Dejoy, where the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously clarified the undue hardship standard under Title VII, a federal law in the United States that prohibits employment...more

Littler

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on Title VII Religious Accommodation Standard

Littler on

On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case raising the issue of how great a burden an employer must bear in order to accommodate an employee’s religious belief or practices....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Smucker’s Out of a Jam: Sixth Circuit Says Being a Federal Contractor Does Not Make You a State Actor

If you take on a federal contract, does that make you a state actor? No, according to a unanimous Sixth Circuit panel in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker Company. During World War II, the Army included Smucker’s apple butter in its...more

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.

SCOTUS to Take Another Look at Religious Accommodations

Employment litigators and Constitutional Law attorneys alike should pay close attention to the United States Supreme Court’s calendar, as the Court recently agreed to take up a case that has the potential to change the way...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Supreme Court to Revisit De Minimis Cost Test for Religious Accommodations Under Title VII

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On Jan. 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the de minimis cost test for religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should endure. The Supreme Court granted the petition...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Was There a Rainbow Connection? Arkansas Court Allows Religious Discrimination Case to Go Forward over Apron Symbol

Accommodating an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs can be tricky. In EEOC v. Kroger, a court in Arkansas gives some guidance on how to handle these claims. The case law surrounding religious failure-to-accommodate...more

Cozen O'Connor

Circuit Court Clarifies Employer Burdens in Religious Accommodation Cases

Cozen O'Connor on

Religious accommodation cases continue to vex employers. Especially since the rise of COVID-19, employers have had to face a rising tide of employee claims that their religious beliefs entitle them to an exemption from...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Religious Accommodation Challenges to COVID-19 Vaccination Policies — Lessons for Employers from Preliminary Court Decisions

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Whether to protect the health and safety of their workplaces, to comply with governmental requirements when applicable, or a combination of the two, many employers have adopted mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. Faced...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

EEOC (Again) Updates Religious Accommodation and Vaccine Mandate Guidance

The EEOC has once again updated its guidance and answers regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s interaction with anti-discrimination laws. We previously discussed this guidance here. This guidance, updated on March 1,...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

EEOC Issues Employer Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccinations and Religious Objections

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Throughout the COVID pandemic, healthcare employers have navigated the challenge of balancing safety concerns with employee requests for religious exemption from the vaccine. Since lifting the stay of the CMS rule requiring...more

Miller Canfield

CANADA: Are Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policies Enforceable? Maybe, Maybe Not.

Miller Canfield on

Since the release of government-approved vaccines to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have been wrestling with how to implement vaccination policies in the workplace. For those employers who have implemented a...more

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