News & Analysis as of August 18, 2025

Religious Beliefs

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII has been subsequently extended to discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual stereotypes and to prohibit sexual harassment. Title VII applies to all employers with fifteen or more employees including private employers, state and local governments, and educational institutions. less -

EEOC Scrutinizes Vaccine Mandates: Continued Rise of Religious Accommodation Claims

Husch Blackwell LLP on 6/2/2025

The COVID-19 pandemic brought workplace vaccination policies to the forefront, raising complex questions about religious accommodations. Over four years after the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, these policies remain...more

A sneak peek at what a religious accommodation trial might look like for a guy who can't work Sundays

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 2/11/2025

After the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, on January 30 a federal district court denied dueling motions for summary judgment filed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the U.S. Postal Service, and former Postal...more

Religious Accommodations, Part Deux: Is the religious belief sincere?

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 10/19/2023

In Part One of this two-part bulletin, we explored the expansive meaning of religious beliefs entitled to an accommodation under Title VII and the reluctance of courts to second guess whether a belief is “religious” in...more

Accommodations Developments Add Scheduling Challenges for Retailers

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 9/15/2023

For retail establishments, developments involving religious accommodation and the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) make scheduling employees more challenging. Religious Accommodation- The U.S. Supreme Court...more

SCOTUS Defines “Undue Hardship,” “Reasonable Accommodation” in Religious Context

McGlinchey Stafford on 7/7/2023

In the Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General opinion published on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court gave parameters to the definitions of certain key employment law terms. After nearly 50 years of precedent, the U.S. Supreme...more

Separation of Church and Cubicle: Supreme Court Considers Increasing Burden on Employers

Venable LLP on 5/19/2023

How far must employers go to accommodate their employees' sincerely held religious beliefs? Last month, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case that asks the Justices to answer this very question—and...more

Takeaways From SCOTUS Oral Argument In Groff V. Dejoy: Justices Attempt To Find “Common Ground” On Religious Accommodation Test

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 4/19/2023

Seyfarth Synopsis: Yesterday the Supreme Court held oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case in which the Court is considering whether to overturn decades of precedent established by the seminal religious accommodation case,...more

Will U.S. Supreme Court Place an Undue Hardship on Employers When It Decides Groff v. DeJoy?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 2/6/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether its own definition of “undue hardship” with respect to religious accommodation requests, which employers have relied upon for more than 45 years, remains valid when it hears...more

Third Circuit Ruling Helps Clarify Reasonableness of Accommodations in Resolving Conflict Between Work Requirements and Employee...

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Employment Law... on 6/14/2022

It just got harder to get out of working on the Sabbath on the basis of religion. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently issued its opinion in Groff v. Dejoy, rejecting a mail carrier's repeated...more

ABCs of employment law: Religious accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 4/15/2022

Second post in our series. NOTE FROM ROBIN: Last month, I posted the first in what will be a series of very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. I could not resist having religious...more

A Swing and a Miss: Right to Conscience Objections to COVID-19 Vaccinations to Endure Until June 2022

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 11/4/2021

Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 28, 2021, an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act passed the Illinois General Assembly and made its way to Governor Pritzker’s desk. The amendment creates a COVID-19...more

Retailers’ Obligations to Accommodate Work Schedules that Conflict With an Employee’s Religion

Fisher Phillips on 11/3/2021

Federal law’s obligation to accommodate religious observances and practices has been in the spotlight recently because of employees seeking to be exempted from employer mandatory vaccination policies when the vaccine...more

No Magic Words: EEOC Clarifies Guidance on Religious Accommodations to Vaccine Mandates

McGuireWoods LLP on 11/1/2021

On Oct. 25, 2021 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance for resolving religious objections to COVID-19 workplace vaccination mandates. This guidance comes at a time when many employees are...more

For Employers Making the Tough Calls in the Vaccine Mandate Trenches: EEOC Issues Welcome Guidance Clarifying What is -- and Is...

Maynard Nexsen on 11/1/2021

Over the last several weeks, employers, in tandem with their legal counsel, have been grappling in good faith with religious exemption requests pouring in following the imposition of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The analysis...more

EEOC Updates Guidance on Religious Exemptions to Workplace Vaccine Requirements

Foley Hoag LLP on 10/29/2021

On October 25, 2021, as more employers adopt workplace vaccination requirements for their employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its guidance concerning requiring COVID-19 vaccinations in...more

EEOC Issues Additional Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations, Religious Objections and Accommodations

Fox Rothschild LLP on 10/29/2021

On October 25, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Questions and Answers publication to provide additional guidance for employers on handling employee religious...more

EEOC Issues New Guidance on Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC on 10/28/2021

On Monday, October 25, 2021, the EEOC released much-awaited guidance on how employers should handle employee requests to be exempted from vaccination requirements because of religious beliefs. The new guidance is in the new...more

EEOC Updates COVID-19 Guidance to Address Vaccine Mandate Religious Exemptions

Epstein Becker & Green on 10/28/2021

On Monday, October 25, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued updates to its online technical assistance for employers, providing guidance for managing workplace issues arising from the ongoing...more

EEOC Issues Guidance Regarding Religious Accommodations in Connection with Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policies

Weintraub Tobin on 10/28/2021

For what it’s worth, on October 25, 2021, the EEOC updated its guidance “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” and added Section L entitled “Vaccinations – Title VII and...more

Five Key Takeaways From EEOC’s Updated Guidance on Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Goodwin on 10/27/2021

Many employers that require COVID-19 vaccinations of employees have been receiving requests for exceptions from the vaccine requirement as an accommodation based on religion. On October 25, 2021, the Equal Opportunity...more

EEOC Issues Updated COVID-19 Guidance for Religious Exemption Requests

Gould + Ratner LLP on 10/26/2021

On Monday, October 25, the EEOC issued the much-anticipated update to its COVID-19 guidance (What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws). The update again addresses how...more

Asking Applicants For Vax Status? Not So Fast, Employers.

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 10/8/2021

I'm not sure the ADA will let you do that. There has been a lot in the news lately about job applicants who include their COVID-19 vaccination status on their resumes, employers who ask applicants for that information, and...more

Employer Asks Workers Seeking Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandate to Swear Off Tylenol and Tums

Fisher Phillips on 10/7/2021

A hospital system in Arkansas mandating the COVID-19 vaccine among its workforce has taken an interesting approach during its review of religious exemption requests, asking employees to verify they don’t or won’t use popular...more

An Employee Has Requested A Religious Exemption To The Company Vaccine Mandate—What Now?

Weintraub Tobin on 9/21/2021

For those in the Sacramento area, you may have seen large “Destiny” signs overhanging State Route 65 north of Interstate 80. A news story last month suggested that this church is the place to go for COVID-19 vaccine exemption...more

COVID-19 Vaccines: Can Your Employee Purchase Evidence Of A Sincerely Held Religious Belief On The Internet?

Husch Blackwell LLP on 8/26/2021

Title VII requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee whose sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance conflicts with a work requirement, unless providing the accommodation would...more

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