Return to Work: Employer-Mandated COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Accommodating Employee Disabilities and Religious Beliefs
This week we focus on a new case looking at the difficulties between balancing protections of religious belief with the rights and protections of LGBTQI+ individuals....more
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
Last fall, I reported on a proposed Enforcement Guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace harassment. I gave the proposed guidance a good review overall, although I had some disagreements...more
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
The EEOC recently released its final Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, replacing earlier guidance issued between 1987 and 1999. The guidance, issued on April 29, 2024, reflects how the EEOC’s...more
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
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
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
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
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law (A6604 / S4982) that prohibits New York employers and employment agencies from discriminating or retaliating against employees who refuse to attend...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech protects a business from antidiscrimination laws when that company acts in accordance with its owner’s professed beliefs. ...more
Effective August 1, Minnesota now prohibits employers from “captive audience meetings” – that is, requiring, under threat of discharge, discipline, or some other penalty, employee attendance or participation in...more
On the final day of the 2022-23 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. In its decision, the Supreme Court held that forcing a single-member company to design websites for weddings of...more
Our July update includes cases on the dismissal of a devout Christian dismissed for gross misconduct for social media criticism of pro-LGBTQ+ teaching at schools, allowances that tribunals should make to litigants in person...more
In 303 Creative v. Elenis, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Colorado could not take legal action against a graphic designer who refused to create custom wedding websites for same-sex marriages because of her religious...more
In the Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General opinion published on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court gave parameters to the definitions of certain key employment law terms. After nearly 50 years of precedent, the U.S. Supreme...more
Minnesota will soon prohibit employers from requiring employees to attend political or religious meetings, including talks about labor unions. Additionally, similar legislation passed by the New York legislature will likely...more
In Randall v Trent College Ltd and others, the UK Employment Tribunal ruled against a school chaplain’s claim of religion and belief discrimination (amongst other claims). The reason for his treatment by his employer was not...more
Our April update includes cases on religious belief discrimination in the education sector, with a school chaplain preaching to pupils his views on same-sex marriage, a case considering whether the potentially disruptive...more
Adelina Suarez was a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who worked for a state-operated certified residential nursing facility for vulnerable, disabled adults in Yakima, Washington. Throughout her employment, which was covered...more
Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), MCL 37.2101 et seq., prohibition of sex-based discrimination also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, the Michigan Supreme Court has held....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Accommodation requests continue to vex employers as they attempt to balance an employee’s religious beliefs with the overall needs of the business operations. But try they must....more
It just got harder to get out of working on the Sabbath on the basis of religion. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently issued its opinion in Groff v. Dejoy, rejecting a mail carrier's repeated...more
Religious accommodation cases continue to vex employers. Especially since the rise of COVID-19, employers have had to face a rising tide of employee claims that their religious beliefs entitle them to an exemption from...more
Our May update considers key employment law developments from April 2022. It includes an interesting case on specific disclosure requests, details about the future “road map” for employment tribunal proceedings, the new code...more