Dawn Reddy Solowey on Title VII

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

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

8/29/2024 / Coronavirus/COVID-19 , Corporate Counsel , Employees , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Litigation , Motion to Dismiss , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Religious Exemption , Title VII , Vaccinations

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

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

4/2/2024 / Civil Rights Act , Corporate Counsel , Employees , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Discrimination , Employment Policies , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Religious Beliefs , Title VII , Workplace Safety

A Unanimous Supreme Court Rules on Undue Hardship in Religious Accommodation: De Minimis Is Out, “Substantial Increased Costs” Is...

Seyfarth Synopsis: A unanimous Supreme Court has issued its decision in Groff v. Dejoy, clarifying Title VII’s undue hardship standard to mean “substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular...more

6/30/2023 / Civil Rights Act , De Minimus Doctrine , Employer Liability Issues , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Groff v DeJoy , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , SCOTUS , Title VII , Undue Hardship

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

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

4/19/2023 / Oral Argument , Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Accommodation , Religious Beliefs , SCOTUS , Title VII , Undue Hardship

Arguments for SCOTUS to Preserve and Clarify Hardison now in Play as the U.S. Postal Service and its Amici Supporters Fire Back

Seyfarth Synopsis: A Third Circuit ruling against a former United States Postal Service employee’s Title VII religious discrimination claim is under review at the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy. Petitioner’s brief urged the...more

4/10/2023 / Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , SCOTUS , Title VII , Undue Hardship , USPS

With SCOTUS Poised to Redefine Title VII’s Religious Accommodation Test, Republican Powerbrokers and Religious Coalitions Chime In

Seyfarth Synopsis: As of February 28, 2023, diverse coalitions – including a host of Republican Congressmen and 22 state Attorneys General – have filed nearly thirty amicus briefs urging the United States Supreme Court to...more

3/7/2023 / Employer Liability Issues , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , SCOTUS , Title VII

Will SCOTUS Stiffen Employers’ Obligation To Accommodate Employees’ Religious Beliefs, Overturning Decades-Old Precedent?

Seyfarth Synopsis: Gerald Groff was a carrier for the United States Postal Service, but his religious beliefs prohibited him from working on Sundays in observation of the Sabbath. USPS offered to find employees to cover...more

2/9/2023 / Employer Liability Issues , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , SCOTUS , Title VII

8th Circuit Agrees, Request For Religious Accommodation Is Not Opposition Conduct

Seyfarth Synopsis: The 8th Circuit recently held that while a request for a religious accommodation may qualify as a protected activity, it is not necessarily “oppositional” so as to give rise to an opposition-clause...more

11/29/2018 / Best Practices , Civil Rights Act , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Litigation , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , First Impression , Protected Activity , Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Retaliation , Title VII

Tenth Circuit Reaffirms That Title VII Does Not Require Employers to Offer an Employee Their “Preferred” Religious Accommodation

Title VII requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for an employee’s religious practices. But what is “reasonable” has been the subject of much debate and litigation. ...more

7/10/2018 / Civil Rights Act , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Litigation , Employment Policies , Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Title VII , Wage and Hour

Forcing The Flu Shot? DOJ Sues Over Flu Policy That Requires A Note From The Clergy

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of a nursing home employee alleging she was forced to receive a flu shot to keep her job when she could not provide a note from a clergy member in support...more

3/15/2018 / Civil Rights Act , Corporate Counsel , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Policies , Flu Shot Rule , Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Title VII , Undue Hardship , Vaccinations

Words Matter: The Third Circuit Clarifies That a Single Racial Slur in the Workplace May Be Enough to State a Hostile Work...

Seyfarth Synopsis: Telling African-American employees “that if they had ‘n—– rigged’ the fence, they would be fired” may be enough, standing alone, to state a hostile work environment claim....more

9/19/2017 / Civil Rights Act , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Litigation , Harassment , Hiring & Firing , Hostile Environment , Race Discrimination , Retaliation , Slurs , Title VII

Court Rules Request for Religious Accommodation Is Not “Protected Activity” for Title VII Retaliation

Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent decision by a federal district court in Minnesota held that a religious accommodation request is not “protected activity” under Title VII. In defending retaliation litigation, employers should...more

7/20/2017 / Civil Rights Act , Conditional Job Offers , Corporate Counsel , Employment Litigation , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Hiring & Firing , Protected Activity , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Retaliation , Title VII , Work Schedules

The Antichrist at Work: 4th Circuit Affirms Judgment Against Employer for Failing to Accommodate Employee’s Religious Belief...

Seyfarth Synopsis: In EEOC v. Consol Energy, Inc., the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judgment against an employer for failing to accommodate an employee’s religious belief that a biometric hand scanner would tag...more

6/16/2017 / Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) , Biometric Information , Civil Rights Act , Employment Litigation , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Hiring & Firing , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Title VII , Wage and Hour

Is a Request for Religious Accommodation “Protected Activity” for a Title VII Retaliation Claim?

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent federal case the employer has challenged the EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation taking the position that a religious accommodation request does not meet the test for protected activity...more

3/29/2017 / Best Practices , Civil Rights Act , Corporate Counsel , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Religious Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , Retaliation , Title VII

Wait, I Thought We Couldn’t Ask About Religion in Hiring? The Impact of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch

It’s the decision the employment bar has been waiting for: on June 1, 2015, in a 8-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the EEOC in the religious discrimination case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., which...more

6/3/2015 / Abercrombie & Fitch , Disparate Impact , Disparate Treatment , EEOC v Abercrombie , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , Hiring & Firing , Reasonable Accommodation , Religious Discrimination , SCOTUS , Title VII

Dawn Reddy Solowey

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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