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Religious Discrimination First Amendment

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - May 23, 2025

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

On Thursday, May 22, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions: Kousisis v. United States, No. 23-909: This case addresses the elements of the federal wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343....more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission (Trump EO Tracker)

Establishes Religious Liberty Commission (Commission) with the stated intent of protecting the free exercise of religion. The Commission shall be composed of up to 14 members appointed by the President and shall include...more

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti,...

Losing My Religion? 8th Circuit Finds that Freedom of Religion is Not a Justification for Employee Conduct

The past few decades have seen a Supreme Court receptive to claims brought on the basis of freedom of religion. For example, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (June 2014), the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Supreme Court Appears Split on Whether to Approve Religious Charter School

Rumberger | Kirk on

On April 30, 2025, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the consolidated cases of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. If the...more

Allen Matkins

Can Common Interest Communities Ban Religious Displays On Doors And Doorframes?

Allen Matkins on

The Nevada legislature is currently considering a bill, SB 201, that would restrict, with certain exceptions, an association or unit’s owner who rents or leases his or her unit from prohibiting a unit’s owner or occupant of a...more

Meyers Nave

Ninth Circuit Rules on Caste as a Protected Class in CSU’s Anti-Discrimination Policy

Meyers Nave on

On March 12, 2025, the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Kumar v. Koester, dismissing a constitutional challenge to a university’s anti-discrimination policy that added “caste” as a protected class. Effective January 1,...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

New York Employers Must (Again) Provide Reproductive Health Notice of Rights in Employee Handbooks Following Second Circuit Ruling

New York employers are – once again – required to provide employees with notice regarding New York’s reproductive health decision making protections. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a lower court’s...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Second Circuit Revives New York Reproductive Health Bias Law’s Notice Requirement for Employee Handbooks

On January 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated the New York Reproductive Health Bias Law’s requirement that New York State employers include a notice in their employee handbooks regarding the...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Department of Education Issues Guidance for Title VI Compliance in Response to Increased Complaints

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Eleventh Circuit Finds City of Mobile Violated Religious Freedom Laws

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently considered a long-running religious land use dispute involving the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama (TMAA) and the city of Mobile, Alabama. The...more

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak

Holtzman Vogel Supreme Court Review, October Term 2022

By: Jason Torchinsky, Ed Wenger, Jan Baran, Jonathan P. Lienhard, Kent Safriet, and David Brown The Supreme Court wrapped up its decisions from the October 2022 Term, with a blockbuster final week addressing issues like...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Fourth Circuit: Church Seeking to Operate as Brewery or Farm Winery Did Not State RLUIPA Claim

The Fourth Circuit has ruled against the Alive Church of the Nazarene’s claims that Prince William County, Virginia, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLIUPA) by denying the Church the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Delays Arguments in Religious Discrimination Case for Pending Supreme Court Decision

Over the past decade, federal courts have repeatedly reviewed religious-affiliated employers' ability to avoid federal discrimination claims. Courts recognize a "ministerial exception" that prevents discrimination claims by...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Court Rules Meriden, CT’s Zoning Regulations Discriminatory

A district court has ruled that the City of Meriden, Connecticut (the City) discriminated against Omar Islamic Center Inc. following the City’s denial of the Islamic Center’s application to move its mosque to another...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

U.S. Supreme Court: School District Can’t Discipline Coach for Post-Game Public Religious Observances

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A school district infringed on an assistant football coach’s rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment when it suspended him for continuing to publicly pray after football games in violation of its policy,...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

U.S. Supreme Court: School District Cannot Fire Coach for Personal Religious Observance After Games

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The U.S. Supreme Court has held in favor of a former high school football coach in western Washington who lost his job after kneeling to pray on the 50-yard line after games. Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist., No. 21–418...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

St. Pete Beach, Florida Enjoined from Prohibiting Church’s Beach Parking Lot Evangelism

A federal court in Florida recently ruled that Pass-A-Grille Beach Community Church, Inc. (Church) was likely to prevail on its RLUIPA substantial burden claim challenging the City of St. Pete Beach’s enforcement of parking...more

FordHarrison

OWN’s Greenleaf Presents Ministerial Exception Issue

FordHarrison on

Based on praise from various friends and colleagues, the lovely Mrs. Reed and I recently began watching Greenleaf, a series on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) that ran from 2016 to 2020....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Separation of Church and State: The Application of the Ministerial Exception to Certain Employment Laws

It is common knowledge among many human resources professionals that religious organizations generally are protected from religious discrimination lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and most state...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

During a Pandemic, is a Grocery Store Run the Same as a Baptism Under the 1st Amendment?

SCOTUS Sets Aside New York Limits on Religious Gatherings- The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to halt, on First Amendment grounds, enforcement of New York’s COVID-19-related restrictions on indoor worship services...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Supreme Court Orders Preliminary Injunction in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo

On November 25, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a preliminary injunction in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, No. 20A87, holding that New York may not enforce 10- or 25-person congregation-size limits on...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Enforcement of New York’s COVID-related Occupancy Limits on Worship Services

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Supreme Court granted various religious groups’ request to temporarily block enforcement of an Executive Order issued by the Governor of New York that imposes occupancy...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

EEOC’s Proposed Updates To Religious Discrimination Guidance Now Open For Public Comment

Fox Rothschild LLP on

On November 9, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) voted 3-2 to release a proposed update to Section 12 of the EEOC Compliance Manual addressing religious discrimination. Section 12 of the...more

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Balancing Hospital Visitations and Religious Freedoms During a Pandemic

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC on

On October 20, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) settled two religious discrimination complaints involving access to clergy during the Public Health Emergency. Both complaints arose from a hospital’s failure to permit...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

First Circuit Rejects Signs For Jesus’ RLUIPA and Constitutional Appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently found in favor of the Town of Pembroke, New Hampshire regarding the Town’s denial of an application for an electronic sign permit for religious messages.  The Town’s...more

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