Supreme Court Miniseries: Religious Accommodation at Work
Employment Law Now VII-133 - Hot Summer Employment Law Developments
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Introduces Heightened Standard for Religious Accommodation, Rules Against Affirmative Action, Protects “Expressive” Services - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: The Biden EEOC, New Religious Guidance, and Diversity Training Ban Repealed - Employment Law This Week
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Particularly since pandemic-era vaccination requirements, American employers have faced increasing enforcement actions and litigation regarding religious accommodation requests. Additionally, in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court...more
Two years ago, the long dormant duty to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and practices was awakened by the U.S. Supreme Court in Groff v. Dejoy. Gone were the days when an employer could justify the denial of a...more
Regulators and courts in both the U.S. and UK have been seeking to navigate the complex balance between employees’ rights to religious expression and employers’ interests. In particular, recent developments—namely, two U.S....more
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
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
Many different federal and state laws require employers to provide “reasonable” accommodations. These laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and Title VII of the...more
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
Granting a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not render that accommodation sacrosanct. A case recently decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit illustrates two...more
Most multifamily owners and managers are aware that discrimination against disabled tenants can result in litigation and increase the project’s operating expenses. However, the Fair Housing Act (FHA) not only prohibits...more
Take note, employers: if your decision to accommodate a qualified employee with a disability is solely based on necessity, you may be inviting unnecessary legal exposure. ...more
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
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 Maryland employer recently found itself in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) doghouse when it allegedly summarily rejected an employee’s accommodation request to have his service animal come to work with...more
A federal judge in Louisiana ruled yesterday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) overstepped its authority by requiring employers to accommodate elective abortions that are not medically necessary....more
May is Mental Health Awareness Month — a timely reminder for employers to reflect on how mental health intersects with workplace obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Many employers across the country...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may require an employer to accommodate a disability even when an employee could perform the job without it. That is the upshot of the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for...more
The Second Circuit's decision in Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District is a significant ruling that clarifies the standard for reasonable accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This...more
With many employers contemplating return-to-work directives and many employees seeking and/or needing an accommodation to continue remote work arrangements, employers must be mindful of their obligations under the Americans...more
Interesting decision this week from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A high school math teacher (we’ll call her “Ms. Plantagenet”) had post-traumatic stress disorder. Years earlier, her...more
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
Most requests for disability accommodation arise out of the impact of an employee’s medical condition on their ability to perform their job duties. But sometimes an employer is confronted with a disabled employee requesting...more
HOUSTON – VibraLife of Katy, LLC, a rehabilitation and assisted living facility in Katy, Texas, will pay $80,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability...more
When considering accommodations requested by an employee due to a disability, employers sometimes fail to think through the long-term effects of such changes. In many cases, the accommodation request is permanent, meaning...more
Suncakes NC, LLC, a North Carolina-based company, and Suncakes, LLC, a Texas-based company doing business as IHOP (collectively “Suncakes”), will pay $40,000 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination and...more
We recently had a client forward a note from a professional counselor sent on behalf of an employee. The note said that the employee had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and that it would help if the employer...more