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Title VII › Coronavirus/COVID-19 › Religious Accommodation

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 -
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Courts Reaching Consensus on Religious Exemptions From Vaccine Mandates

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During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers attempting to enforce safety policies faced resistance from employees opposed to vaccination mandates. In many cases, employees claimed that taking the vaccine violated...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2024

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Chutzpah and the shifting defenses to requests for religious accommodation

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

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

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

Federal Courts in Wisconsin and Kentucky Issue Decisions in Favor of Employers Facing COVID-19–Related Legal Issues

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

In September 2023, federal trial courts in Wisconsin and Kentucky issued decisions dismissing plaintiffs’ claims related to employers’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements....more

Paul Hastings LLP

Supreme Court Clarifies "Undue Hardship" In Religious Accommodation

Paul Hastings LLP on

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Religious accommodation at the Supreme Court

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On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case I blogged about in January. The case is about what standard of "undue hardship" should apply in religious accommodation cases. Under every...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Smucker’s Out of a Jam: Sixth Circuit Says Being a Federal Contractor Does Not Make You a State Actor

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

If you take on a federal contract, does that make you a state actor? No, according to a unanimous Sixth Circuit panel in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker Company. During World War II, the Army included Smucker’s apple butter in its...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

Miller Nash LLP

Accommodating Religious Beliefs in a ‘Post-pandemic’ Workplace

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It should be no surprise that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a tremendous impact on today’s employees’ thoughts on life, work, and workplace rules. A recent Harvard Business Review article describes...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

Proskauer Rose LLP

Defending Against Title VII Religious Objections to COVID Vax

Proskauer Rose LLP on

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on religion and requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations for employees' sincerely held religious beliefs, practices and observances....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

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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

Fisher Phillips

Top 7 Takeaways from EEOC’s COVID-19 and Vaccine Webinar for Employers

Fisher Phillips on

Employers need to be especially on guard for the possibility that they may be hit with a vaccine-related EEOC charge, given than nearly half of all pandemic-related charges filed with the agency since December involve a...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Indiana Enacts New Law on Employer COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has signed into law House Bill 1001, curbing COVID-19 vaccine mandates by employers. Under the law, which went into effect immediately, most Indiana employers who require employees to...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Thousands of COVID-Related EEOC Charges Filed; More to Come?

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Employers should be prepared: while COVID may feel like it’s on the wane, COVID-related charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are on the rise. According to data published by Bloomberg from...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

EEOC (Again) Updates Religious Accommodation and Vaccine Mandate Guidance

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints on

The EEOC has once again updated its guidance and answers regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s interaction with anti-discrimination laws. We previously discussed this guidance here. This guidance, updated on March 1,...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

EEOC Issues Employer Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccinations and Religious Objections

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Throughout the COVID pandemic, healthcare employers have navigated the challenge of balancing safety concerns with employee requests for religious exemption from the vaccine. Since lifting the stay of the CMS rule requiring...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Updated Guidance on Religious Accommodations to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC on

On March 1, 2022, the EEOC updated its guidance on religious accommodations to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. While the guidance states that job applicants and employees have a right to request a religious accommodation from an...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Significant Signals Disguised as Minor Clarifications? EEOC’s Updated Guidance on COVID-19 and Religious Accommodations Provides...

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on

By now, many employers have received requests for religious accommodations from COVID-19 policies—primarily vaccination policies. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) guidance thus far, as reported through...more

Bowditch & Dewey

EEOC Issues Updated Guidance Regarding Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements

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The EEOC recently issued updated guidance regarding religious objections to COVID-19 vaccination requirements. This updated guidance, in the form of FAQs, addresses the circumstances under which employers may need to provide...more

Littler

Fifth Circuit Reverses Denial of Preliminary Injunction in Vaccine Mandate Case

Littler on

While the issue of whether private employers can legally enforce vaccine mandates among their workforce continues to be challenged across the country, a split panel in the Fifth Circuit is the first appellate court to signal...more

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