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#WorkforceWednesday: The Biden EEOC, New Religious Guidance, and Diversity Training Ban Repealed - Employment Law This Week
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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
As modern workplaces grow increasingly diverse, employers must be prepared to accommodate employees’ religious practices and observations in a respectful, inclusive, and lawful manner. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of...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
The U.S. and California Constitutions protect the right to a jury trial in all criminal cases and most civil lawsuits. Although most criminal prosecutions and lawsuits end before reaching trial, large population centers like...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
On December 4, 2024, the Maine Department of Labor (DOL) adopted finalized rules for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program (PFML). This rulemaking follows the Maine Legislature’s passage of the new law in 2023....more
Employment discrimination in the workplace is alive and well. Indeed, according to Monster’s recent Workplace Discrimination Poll, only 9% of workers claim to have NOT faced some form of workplace discrimination. There have...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
As we enter the fourth quarter and await the reveal of the state’s third iteration of revisions to the proposed rules governing the state’s Paid FMLA statute, what are some things all Maine employers (and employers outside of...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
Knowing several religious holidays are coming up soon, employers can take steps to avoid triggering religious discrimination and reasonable accommodation lawsuits. Consistently applying paid time off rules can help to prevent...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
Question: Do employees have to be employed for 12 months or work 1,250 hours to qualify for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), or do they qualify as soon as they begin employment?...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a settlement to resolve a discrimination charge alleging an employer terminated a pregnant employee after she requested a reasonable accommodation to...more
A North Carolina restaurant franchisee has agreed to pay $40,000 and take other corrective measures to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC after being accused of denying a cook’s...more
Few issues are more sensitive for employers than accommodating employees’ religious practices and observances. In recent years, Muslim employees and their employers have struggled with how to handle the religious requirement...more