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Title VII › Religious Beliefs

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... more +
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 -
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.

EEOC Decisions Enforce Stronger Protections for Religious Accommodation in the Workplace

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. on

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently issued significant decisions against two federal employers for failing to provide reasonable religious accommodations to their employees. These decisions...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Christian teacher gets jury trial in name, pronoun case

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Divine intervention? John Kluge, a high school orchestra teacher in the Indianapolis area, was let go in 2018 after he refused to address transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns. Mr. Kluge, a Christian...more

Polsinelli

Federal Office of Personnel Management Issues Memorandum Encouraging Employees’ Religious Expression in the Public Sector

Polsinelli on

On July 28, 2025, the United States Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”) issued a memorandum endorsing federal employees expressing their religious beliefs in the workplace. Specifically, OPM Director Scott Kupor instructed...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Proselytizing Online, Fired in Real Life: Are Anti-LGBTQ+ Views Protected by Title VII?

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement, commenced litigation against Rock Snowpark on July 2, 2025, for allegedly retaliating...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

EEOC Scrutinizes Vaccine Mandates: Continued Rise of Religious Accommodation Claims

Husch Blackwell LLP on

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

Amundsen Davis LLC

Balancing Beliefs and Business: What Employers Need to Know About Religious Accommodations in the Workplace

Amundsen Davis LLC on

As modern workplaces grow increasingly diverse, employers must be prepared to accommodate employees’ religious practices and observations in a respectful, inclusive, and lawful manner. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of...more

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

Ramadan Starts Soon: Considerations for Employers

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

Ramadan is coming up soon, so now is a good time to consider religious accommodations and legal protections for Muslim employees....more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

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

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Mandatory COVID Testing Did Not Violate Employee's Religious Beliefs

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

Lawsuits challenging employers' authority to require measures intended to prevent COVID-19 infections continue to wend their way through the federal judiciary. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim...more

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

Prayers for Religious Holiday Time Off May Need to be Accommodated by Employers

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

Knowing several religious holidays are coming up soon, employers can take steps to avoid triggering religious discrimination and reasonable accommodation lawsuits. Consistently applying paid time off rules can help to prevent...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

What To Do When Your Healthcare Employee Objects To Providing Treatment Based on Religious Grounds

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: With the myriad claims for religious accommodation that came out of mandatory COVID vaccination policies, employers have become familiar how to handle requests for religious accommodation in the workplace. ...more

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

California Legislature Sends Governor Bill Prohibiting Employer ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings

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

On August 31, 2024, the California Legislature passed the California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, Senate Bill (SB) No. 399. The bill heads to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until September 30, 2024, to sign...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Courts Reaching Consensus on Religious Exemptions From Vaccine Mandates

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

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

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

LGBTQ Rights in the Workplace: One Step Forward and Three Steps Back

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on

Vicky Slade is an employment lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and co-leads the firm's DEI Counseling Practice. Vicky has extensive experience and training in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, including an Advanced...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Tips for Restaurants, Retailers When Faced With Sabbath Day Requests

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Imagine you manage a busy restaurant, and you are working on the schedule for next week. Saturday is your busiest day, and you need all hands on deck, so you need to schedule everyone for that day. Just when you have the...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

EEOC Updates Its Guidance on Workplace Harassment

Bricker Graydon LLP on

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hopped on the bandwagon of employment law updates this week by updating its guidance to prevent workplace harassment. This guidance focuses on protecting covered employees...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Utah Expands Employee Religious Protections

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The Utah Antidiscrimination Act has been amended to expand religious accommodation requirements for employers under Utah law. The Utah Legislature passed House Bill 396 (H.B. 396), and Governor Spencer Cox signed the bill on...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

EEOC Weighs in on Alleged Conflict Between Religious Beliefs and Civil Rights Training

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a written opinion issued on March 7, 2024, the EEOC confirmed that an employee must not only show a sincerely held religious belief, but that the employee’s religious belief is actually in conflict with the workplace...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Chutzpah and the shifting defenses to requests for religious accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word derived from the Aramaic ḥuṣpāh. It means impudence, gall, and an audacious disregard for rules. In the world of employment law, it can aptly describe employees who try to get what they want...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

What K-12 Schools Need to Know About Georgia's New Antisemitism Law and Other Federal Guidance on Religious Harassment

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

In the past several months, there has been a sharp rise in reports of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and other hate-based incidents at K-12 schools. Reported threats against faith communities, particularly Jewish and Muslim...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to Pay $45,000 to Settle EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on

Hospital Settles Claims It Fired Maintenance Assistant for Seeking Exemption to Influenza Vaccine Requirements - ATLANTA – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. (CHOA), a pediatric healthcare system in Georgia, will pay...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

What the Changed Standard for Religious Accommodations Means for the Shift-Based Retail Industry

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The retail industry is a shift-based industry, dependent on workers signing up for weekday and weekend shifts, for holidays, and for times when few average workers would dream of being awake and at work. What if an employee...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

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

Hair, beards, and the invigorated duty to accommodate religious practices

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Hair. In some religions it is considered a sacred gift from God that should not be cut. In other religions, it must be styled, covered, or cut in particular ways. These religious practices may result in employees’ requesting...more

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