In response to increases in discrimination complaints, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter: Protecting Students from Discrimination, such as Harassment, Based on Race,...more
Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, is upon us and almost two billion Muslims (roughly 25% of the world’s population) are enjoying a month of fasting and spiritual reflection. Ramadan is the most sacred...more
Key Cases - Covert Surveillance Due to Religious Identity is Actionable - Government surveillance of individuals due to their religious identity is actionable under federal law. In Fazaga v. Federal Bureau of...more
Courts continue to grapple with the scope and meaning of the ministerial exception doctrine. In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that a...more
Key Cases - Establishment Challenge to Presidential Proclamation Subject to Rational Basis Review - In Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S.Ct. 2392 (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the lowest level of constitutional...more
On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held, in Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), that President Trump’s September 2017 Proclamation announcing the travel ban was a lawful exercise of his executive...more
The U.S. Supreme Court closed out its most recent term, which began in October 2017, with a number of high-profile and ground-breaking decisions. ...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced its “Strategic Enforcement Plan” for years 2017 to 2021. The 2017 plan replaces the earlier version, issued in 2012, but is not a radical departure from the previous...more
In a 10-3 decision, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the nationwide injunction that had blocked President Trump’s second executive order banning certain travel into the country from taking effect. The Court...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Anti-Muslim rhetoric dominates many media headlines. A May 9, 2017 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit highlights the risks to an employer when anti-Muslim rhetoric enters the...more
On March 24 President Trump’s revised immigration ban which took effect March 16, 2017 (March Order) was found to be enforceable for the first time. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in Alexandria, Va., denied an...more
Just hours before President Trump’s new Executive Order or “Muslim Travel Ban” was to become effective, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii issued a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the ban from being implemented...more
In the most stinging legal rebuke yet to President Trump’s efforts to bar certain immigrants from reaching the country’s shores, a federal judge in Hawaii late Wednesday ordered the president’s second travel ban be...more
On January 27, 2017, barely a week into office, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 13769 for the stated purpose of “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” Both vigorously...more
Late yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate President Donald Trump’s immigration Executive Order (Order) which suspended the entry of aliens from seven countries into the United States for 90 days....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The District Court of the Southern District of New York granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment on an employee’s failure to accommodate claims, holding that the plaintiff did not hold a bona fide...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following a major victory for an airline-industry employer over the EEOC in a Title VII action regarding religious accommodations, the Court denied the EEOC’s motion for a new trial. The decision is a...more
In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has warned employers to be proactive and take measures against discrimination aimed at those who are, or...more
In a pair of EEOC religious discrimination cases brought in Nebraska and Colorado against meat packing company JBS USA, LLC (which we have blogged about here, here, here, here, here, and here), the lawsuits alleged that JBS...more
Last week, Cargill Meat Solutions terminated approximately 190 employees who failed to report to work for three consecutive days. The employees, who are Muslim, stayed away from work in protest over the meatpacking plant’s...more
In an order recently issued in EEOC v Jetstream Ground Services, Inc., Case No. 13-CV-02340 (D. Colo. Sept. 29, 2015), Judge Christine Arguello of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado ruled that the EEOC had...more
Last year, we reported on EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC No. 8:10CV318 (D. NE.). The case includes the EEOC’s pattern or practice claim that JBS failed to accommodate its Muslim employees’ religious practices at its Grand Island,...more