After last week’s Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy, employers should prepare to seriously entertain, and grant, more employee requests for religious accommodation.
Gerald Groff, an Evangelical Christian postal...more
7/5/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
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
A new series.
NOTE FROM ROBIN: For months, I've been thinking about doing a series of posts with very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. I think the series would be helpful to people who are...more
3/25/2022
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Here are 10 quick takes.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued on Tuesday a proposed update to the Religious Discrimination section of its Compliance Manual. The current section of the Compliance Manual has not...more
11/20/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Compliance Manuals ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Holidays ,
Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd v Colorado Civil Rights Commission ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
What the Supreme Court's decision in Fort Bend really means.
As you may have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed a plaintiff to proceed with a Title VII religious discrimination lawsuit even though she didn't file a...more
6/7/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
It's enough to make an "onionhead" weep.
A few years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued this employer -- who allegedly discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against a number of employees who...more
Are you in the know?
Yeah, I'm sorry. I should have an in-depth, incisive legal analysis of the Sixth Circuit panel decision in EEOC v. R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. That was my plan, and I promise that I will --...more
3/9/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Flu Shot Rule ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour
It's possible to discriminate against someone of your own faith. And illegal.
Carl Smith, a Catholic, was a trainee in Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspection. ...more
How much can you do – and not do – about your employees’ personal appearance and grooming? Take this quiz and find out! As usual, I’ll have the answers at the end, so if you get one wrong, no one but you will know....more
Onionhead is this incredibly pure, wise and adorable character who teaches us how to name it – claim it – tame it – aim it. He wants everyone to know how they feel and then know what to do with those feelings. He helps us...more
Our friends at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have issued a Fact Sheet for young workers on religious discrimination in the workplace, which brought me back to the EEOC’s older Q&A and Best Practices on religious...more
Last week, a high school principal in Bangor, Maine, banned a math teacher from having a little pink Christmas holiday Hello Kitty tree in her classroom for the holidays. She says she was told it was too “religious,” although...more
The National Labor Relations Board, for being naughty in too many ways to mention. Its rules on employer handbook policies, including confidentiality and social media, are unrealistic and almost impossible for employers to...more
12/23/2015
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Job Applicants ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Paternity ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wellness Programs
Boy, the Detroit area seems to be in the front lines for the gender-identity wars.
As I’ve previously reported here, here, here, and here, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a high-profile gender-stereotyping...more
Employers, it is a losing battle to debate theology with your employees who request religious accommodation. If you don’t believe me, ask Consolidated Coal Company and its parent, CONSOL Energy, which have been ordered to pay...more
It’s been a hectic week for me (I have a trial coming up), and so here are some links to employment law blog posts and workplace news items that I hope will entertain and edify....more
In a nutshell, the Supreme Court decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie means this: if an employment decision is motivated by religion – even if the employer does not actually know the religious need of the individual – then the...more
First Glance perspective by attorney Robin Shea of the Supreme Court's recent Religious Accommodation decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie. Spoiler alert: more alarming than it sounds....more
6/2/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Glance ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Popular ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
Happy New Year, everyone! While I’ve been out for the holidays, the courts and government agencies have stayed busy with employment law matters. Here are the developments that I thought were especially noteworthy...more
Last week, I wrote about the two situations in which an employer should ask an applicant about a disability or a religious belief or practice that might require reasonable accommodation. (As I emphasized last week, 99 percent...more
10/13/2014
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
PDA ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination
Everybody knows that an employer should never, ever, ever ask an applicant about religion or disability until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. And maybe not even then. Right?...more
10/6/2014
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Screening Procedures