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Title VII › Religious Discrimination

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 -
Littler

The New Era of Religious Accommodations: Clarifying the Standard for “Sincere Religious Beliefs” and Evaluating Undue Hardship

Littler on

Since vaccines became available in response to COVID-19, courts have dealt with an onslaught of litigation involving religious accommodation in the workplace. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...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

McAfee & Taft

Will expanded freedom of religious expression lead to increased tension in the workplace?

McAfee & Taft on

On July 28, 2025, the Trump administration issued a memorandum to all heads and acting heads of federal government departments and agencies entitled “Protection Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace.” The memo...more

Kerr Russell

Religious Accommodations Under Scrutiny

Kerr Russell on

Six months into the new Trump administration, it is clear that the EEOC is concentrating its efforts on religious discrimination in the workplace. Since President Trump’s inauguration, 25% of the new lawsuits or enforcement...more

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

New Federal Religious Expression and Accommodations Guidance May Impact Private Employers

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

In July 2025, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued two important memos regarding religious accommodations and religious expression in federal workplaces. ...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

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

Title VII Lawsuit in Utah Federal District Court Challenges Employee’s Firing After Making Online Posts

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

An in-house attorney recently sued his former employer in a Utah federal district court for discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging he was unlawfully fired after posting social...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Burn Grooming Policy, Burn? Third Circuit Reignites Bearded Firefighter’s Religious Accommodation and Free Exercise Claims

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

If you have a grooming policy based on safety factors (like no beards for firefighters), does that trump an employee’s request for a religious accommodation? Maybe not. A recent Third Circuit decision, Smith v. City of...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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Dads have workplace rights, too -- with a twist.

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

Dad-of-seven will go to jury on religious discrimination. This sounds like the kind of thing that might happen to a woman, but this time it (allegedly) happened to a man. A devout Catholic man (we'll call him "Dad") was...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Attending to EEOC’s New Workplace Focus: Antisemitism on College Campuses

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Acting Chair Andrea Lucas issued a statement on March 17, 2025, notifying universities and colleges that the EEOC intends to hold them accountable for antisemitism in on-campus...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to McDonnell Douglas Discrimination Claims Analysis

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

Since 1973, federal courts reviewing claims of employment discrimination have used a framework first established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s McDonnell Douglas decision. Under this framework, plaintiffs must show a prima facie...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

EEOC Prioritizes Campus Antisemitism: What Employers Need to Know

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a March 5, 2025 press release, Andrea Lucas, the Acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), emphasized the agency’s plans to prioritize holding universities and colleges accountable to prevent...more

Frantz Ward LLP

Updates at the EEOC Under the Trump Administration

Frantz Ward LLP on

Shortly after taking office, President Trump made several changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). First, President Trump terminated the EEOC’s previous General Counsel, Karla Gilbride, and appointed...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Finding Religion on a Motion to Dismiss: Federal Court Concludes that Plaintiff’s Secular Concerns About COVID Vaccines Do Not...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In a dispute over workplace vaccination requirements, a federal district court in Oregon joined a growing trend in workplace vaccination litigation when it ruled that a plaintiff’s allegations of religious conflict with...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Moving Forward: District Court Denies Religious University’s Motion to Dismiss Transgender Ex-Employee’s Title VII Suit

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia denied Liberty University’s motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by a former employee who alleges that Liberty violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Vax On: Fourth Circuit Reinstates Plaintiff’s Religious Bias Suit in COVID Vaccine Mandate Case

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on

On January 7, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s Title VII religious bias suit—holding the case was sufficient to survive a motion to...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Faith, Fired, and Fourth Circuit: Court Resurrects Religious Discrimination Case Against Inova

Poyner Spruill LLP on

In a significant decision affecting employment discrimination law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has unanimously reversed the dismissal of a Title VII religious discrimination lawsuit brought by a...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

What a Potential EEOC Shift in Emphasis on Religious Discrimination Claims Could Mean for Employers

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

With the transition to the new administration in Washington taking place later this month, how could this change affect the enforcement priorities of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission? These priorities shift every...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Sues Rex Healthcare, Inc. for Religious Discrimination

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

Federal Agency Charges Healthcare Provider Refused to Accommodate Remote Employee’s Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs - RALEIGH, N.C. – Rex Healthcare, Inc., a private, non-profit healthcare provider located in Raleigh,...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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

The termination wasn't perfect, but this employer nailed the retaliation case.

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Here are the four things the employer did right. I hope everyone had a fun Halloween last night. And before Halloween gets too far into the distant past, check out this scary HR story: A full-time adjunct instructor at the...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit

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

Settles Federal Lawsuit Charging Debt Collector Denied Employee Unpaid Time Off to Observe Religious Holidays, Forcing Him to Quit - Pittsburgh – Center One, LLC, a provider of consumer debt collection services, and...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Sues Logic Staffing for Religious Discrimination and Retaliation

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

Federal Agency Charges Staffing Agency With Unlawful Refusal to Hire Muslim Applicant Who Asked For Ability to Attend Friday Prayer - SEATTLE – Logic Staffing, a Washington-based staffing and recruiting agency, violated...more

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