Title VII of the Civil Rights Act has always prohibited religious discrimination in the workplace and has required employers to consider employees’ requests for religious accommodations at work. Examples of accommodation requests include such things as modified work schedules, time off for religious observances, exceptions to grooming or apparel standards, and changes in job responsibilities.
The 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy significantly changed employers’ obligations. Prior to Groff, an employer was not required to accommodate an employee’s request for religious accommodation if the request caused a more than “de minimis” burden on the business’ operations. Now, post-Groff, an employer is expected to grant an employee’s religious accommodation request unless it can demonstrate the accommodation would cause a “substantial hardship” on its operations. This change means that employers have less ability to deny an employee’s request for job modifications related to their religious beliefs. On August 22, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a press release communicating its intention to aggressively investigate and pursue claims that an employer had unlawfully refused to facilitate employees’ religious beliefs in the workplace.
The EEOC’s enforcement actions
In its press release, the EEOC stated its commitment to “ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paycheck and their faith.” The agency touted its “robust” religious accommodation enforcement actions to date and provided the following examples:
- Lawsuits filed against – and settlements paid by – medical and health institutions over their COVID-19 vaccine mandates;
- Lawsuit filed against a resort that fired an employee over faith-based social media posts;
- Lawsuit filed against a hotel for failing to accommodate an employee’s request to observe her faith’s Sabbath;
- Lawsuits filed against employers who refused to allow employees to wear skirts for religious reasons; and
- Lawsuit filed against a staffing agency for refusing an employee’s request to attend Friday prayer.
I haven’t been sued. Why should I care?
Current standards require employers to carefully consider employees’ requests to accommodate religious beliefs. Additionally, the EEOC has been sympathetic to employees’ complaints about the denial of religious accommodation requests and transparent about its willingness to investigate and bring legal actions against employers it believes have violated employees’ religious rights at work. Taking the following steps should help employers handle any challenges to their religious accommodation decisions:
- Have an EEO policy in place that recognizes employees’ rights and the employers’ obligations for accommodating religious beliefs.
- Train supervisors and human resource professionals so that they are sensitive to an expanded accommodation responsibility.
- If you reject an employee’s request for religious accommodation, document and be prepared to explain how the request would impose a substantial and unreasonable burden on the business’ operations.
