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Title VII › Religious Discrimination › Coronavirus/COVID-19

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 -
Husch Blackwell LLP

EEOC Scrutinizes Vaccine Mandates: Continued Rise of Religious Accommodation Claims

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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

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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

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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

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

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

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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

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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

Mandatory COVID Testing Did Not Violate Employee's Religious Beliefs

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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

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2024

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Vaccine Exemption Policy Requiring Citation to Official Doctrine Violates First Amendment Madison Houghton and Nathan A. Adams IV In Does 1-11 v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Colorado, 100 F. 4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2024), former...more

Goldberg Segalla

Employee Religious-Exemption Protections Safeguarded in COVID-19 Discrimination Claim

Goldberg Segalla on

On January 25, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) motion to dismiss plaintiff Donald Glover’s complaint in Donald Glover v. The Children’s...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Second Circuit Rejects Religious Discrimination Claim Based on COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate

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In last term’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly increased employers’ obligation to consider religious exemption requests under Title VII. Rather than the previous de minimus burden standard,...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

Bowditch & Dewey

MA Federal Court Issues Favorable Ruling for Employers in Case Involving COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate and Request for Religious...

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On July 20, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed an employee’s Title VII lawsuit, by which she challenged her employer’s denial of her request for religious exemption from a...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Supreme Court Clarifies "Undue Hardship" In Religious Accommodation

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On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court decided Groff v. DeJoy in a unanimous ruling that clarifies the “undue hardship” standard under which an employer can deny a requested religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Update on COVID-19 Vaccination Accommodations Under Title VII

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP on

Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court in Biden v. Missouri, 595 U. S. ____ (2022) provided clarity for hospitals and healthcare facilities when it preliminarily upheld a vaccine mandate for health care workers...more

Cozen O'Connor

Employment Law Now VI-116-Top 10 Employment Issues To Consider For The Summer Kick-Off

Cozen O'Connor on

As we approach the unofficial start to Summer 2022, today's new episode addresses the 10 issues that should be on the radar of all employers....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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

ABCs of employment law: Religious accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

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

ArentFox Schiff

EEOC Addresses Retaliation in Updated COVID-19 Technical Assistance 

ArentFox Schiff on

Last week, the EEOC again updated its COVID-19 technical assistance; this time, to include more information about employer retaliation in pandemic-related employment situations. The update explains and clarifies the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

First Circuit Upholds State's Mandatory Vaccine Order for Health Care Workers

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Last week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to a Maine emergency rule requiring that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Originally scheduled to take effect on August 12, 2021, all Maine...more

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

EEOC Releases Updated Guidance Regarding Religious Exemptions to Mandatory Vaccination

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On Monday, October 25th, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Document to include guidance on how employers should approach requests for religious exemptions. The Technical Assistance does not greatly differ...more

Gould + Ratner LLP

EEOC Issues Updated COVID-19 Guidance for Religious Exemption Requests

Gould + Ratner LLP on

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

Epstein Becker & Green

#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC Enforcement Uptick, New York Limits Private Confidential Settlements, Anti-Harassment Training for...

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This week, we focus on what can be learned from the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC’s) fiscal year (FY) 2021 filings as employers continue to navigate COVID-19 in the months ahead. EEOC: Back in Enforcement...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

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

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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

PilieroMazza PLLC

Return to Work: Employer-Mandated COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Accommodating Employee Disabilities and Religious Beliefs

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Over 50% of the adult population of the U.S. has received at least one dose of a vaccine to combat COVID-19, and many employers are looking forward to a “return to normal,” with employees coming back to the workplace. But...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: June 2021

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Blanket Limitation on Private Home Gatherings to 3 Households Overturned In Tandon v. Newsom, 141 S.Ct. 1294 (2021) (per curiam), the U.S. Supreme Court enjoined pending appeal California's imposition of a blanket limitation...more

Goodwin

EEOC Releases Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance for Employers

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On May 28, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated and expanded on its guidance about how federal equal employment opportunity laws (“EEO laws”) may apply to potential employer requirements that...more

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