Remote Work and Religion: New Legal Risks for Employers in 2025 - #WorkforceWednesday® - Employment Law This Week®
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®
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate the religious practices of their employees unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.” Based on one...more
Key Takeaways: On June 4, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) approved a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) for fiscal years 2025–2029, replacing the Biden-era 2024–2028 Strategic...more
Over the past several years, we have reported on multiple federal court lawsuits filed by former employees who alleged that their employers' failure to grant exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination mandates constitutes religious...more
According to the EEOC, religious discrimination charges have increased steadily over the past decade. Post-Groff, the stakes for getting accommodation decisions wrong have never been higher. Whether you’re fielding a request...more
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many employers received more religious accommodation requests than ever before, with employees citing religious beliefs in support of requests to be excused from mandatory...more
Five years after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, cases involving religious objections to employers’ vaccination requirements are now reaching the federal appellate courts. In the latest round, the U.S. Court of Appeals...more
On April 2, 2026, the National Assembly of Québec assented to Bill 9, An Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity in Québec. While it primarily targets the public sector, it nonetheless contains provisions that apply...more
While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow in many workplaces, some employees are asking for religious accommodations to avoid using AI tools at work....more
The Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy transformed how courts and regulators look at religious accommodation requests. The ruling replaced the 50-year standard with a new requirement: employers can deny an...more
In the never-ending saga of COVID-19 vaccination employment litigation, a newly filed lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia underscores the ongoing legal challenges employers face when...more
Typical religious accommodations during the holiday season include telework, flexible scheduling, shift adjustments or swapping, and exceptions to the dress code....more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been unusually active in recent months, issuing significant opinions on religious accommodations and clarifying its enforcement stance on transgender discrimination. At...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 Groff decision eliminated the de minimus test for religious accommodation requests under Title VII, and replaced it with one that requires employers to grant the requests absent undue hardship. ...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is poised to elevate its focus on religious discrimination in the workplace and employers should be alert. With its newly restored quorum allowing Acting Chair Andrea Lucas...more
In its 2023 Groff decision, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded employers’ obligations to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs under Title VII. In response to a growing number of religious discrimination claims, lower federal...more
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...more
On September 15, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) entered into a settlement with P. F. Chang’s following a former job applicant’s claim that he was not hired due to a religious accommodation...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has released an advisory memorandum opinion making clear that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may require the federal government to provide “situational telework” to its...more
Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Groff v. DeJoy, before denying a religious accommodation under Title VII based on the undue hardship it creates, employers must demonstrate that the burden is “substantial in...more
This week, we analyze how a new U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo for federal workers, combined with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, is creating new compliance challenges at the intersection...more
While March 2020 may seem like a distant memory, courts across the country are still busy hearing cases related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent federal jury verdict in McCormick v. Chicago Transit Authority reminds us that...more
Two years ago, the long dormant duty to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and practices was awakened by the U.S. Supreme Court in Groff v. Dejoy. Gone were the days when an employer could justify the denial of a...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently issued significant decisions against two federal employers for failing to provide reasonable religious accommodations to their employees. These decisions...more
Given the slow progress of civil litigation in the U.S., federal courts continue to hear challenges to employer vaccination mandates imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to 2023, employers generally held the upper hand...more
Divine intervention? John Kluge, a high school orchestra teacher in the Indianapolis area, was let go in 2018 after he refused to address transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns. Mr. Kluge, a Christian...more