News & Analysis as of

Title VII Coronavirus/COVID-19

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII... more +
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII has been subsequently extended to discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual stereotypes and to prohibit sexual harassment. Title VII applies to all employers with fifteen or more employees including private employers, state and local governments, and educational institutions.  less -
Husch Blackwell LLP

EEOC Scrutinizes Vaccine Mandates: Continued Rise of Religious Accommodation Claims

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The COVID-19 pandemic brought workplace vaccination policies to the forefront, raising complex questions about religious accommodations. Over four years after the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, these policies remain...more

Carlton Fields

Seventh Circuit Affirms Order Compelling Arbitration, Holds Arbitration Agreement Applies to Title VII Claim

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In Retzios v. Epic Systems Corp., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals considered an appeal brought by the plaintiff, a former employee of Epic, who was fired after she refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Finding Religion on a Motion to Dismiss: Federal Court Concludes that Plaintiff’s Secular Concerns About COVID Vaccines Do Not...

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In a dispute over workplace vaccination requirements, a federal district court in Oregon joined a growing trend in workplace vaccination litigation when it ruled that a plaintiff’s allegations of religious conflict with...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Vax On: Fourth Circuit Reinstates Plaintiff’s Religious Bias Suit in COVID Vaccine Mandate Case

On January 7, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s Title VII religious bias suit—holding the case was sufficient to survive a motion to...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Labor & employment in Week 2 of Trump 2: Can he do that?

I've been asking this a lot lately. President Trump’s first week of his second term in office was action-packed, as I posted last week. If you thought things would slow down for Week 2, you were mistaken. You may remember...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Faith, Fired, and Fourth Circuit: Court Resurrects Religious Discrimination Case Against Inova

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In a significant decision affecting employment discrimination law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has unanimously reversed the dismissal of a Title VII religious discrimination lawsuit brought by a...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Cautions Employers on Deciding Legitimacy of Workers' Religious Beliefs

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers established internal procedures to evaluate employees' requests for religious and medical-based exemptions from vaccination mandates. ...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Mandatory COVID Testing Did Not Violate Employee's Religious Beliefs

Lawsuits challenging employers' authority to require measures intended to prevent COVID-19 infections continue to wend their way through the federal judiciary. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim...more

Snell & Wilmer

2024 End-of-Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health and Welfare

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We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seventh Circuit: Religious Discrimination Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss Even if Request For Religious Exemption to COVID-19...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: In two cases issued by the Seventh Circuit, Passarella and Dottenwhy v. Aspirus, Inc. and Bube and Hedrington v. Aspirus Hospital, Inc. the Court held that at the motion to dismiss stage, the fact that a...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Courts Reaching Consensus on Religious Exemptions From Vaccine Mandates

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers attempting to enforce safety policies faced resistance from employees opposed to vaccination mandates. In many cases, employees claimed that taking the vaccine violated...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2024

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Vaccine Exemption Policy Requiring Citation to Official Doctrine Violates First Amendment Madison Houghton and Nathan A. Adams IV In Does 1-11 v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Colorado, 100 F. 4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2024), former...more

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

The EEOC Unveils Final Version of Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace

On April 29, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), after nearly seven years of effort, released updated guidance concerning harassment in the workplace. The updated guidance reflects three key developments...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Chutzpah and the shifting defenses to requests for religious accommodation

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word derived from the Aramaic ḥuṣpāh. It means impudence, gall, and an audacious disregard for rules. In the world of employment law, it can aptly describe employees who try to get what they want...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Congress Violated U.S. Constitution When It Passed Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Texas Court Rules

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Congress improperly passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a federal court in Texas has ruled. State of Texas v. Department of Justice et al., No. 5:23-cv-00034...more

Mitratech Holdings, Inc

Criminal Background Check FAQs Answered

Are you considering hiring a new employee? For workplace safety, having all the necessary information about someone before making important decisions is essential. That’s where criminal background checks come into play. By...more

Goldberg Segalla

Employee Religious-Exemption Protections Safeguarded in COVID-19 Discrimination Claim

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On January 25, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) motion to dismiss plaintiff Donald Glover’s complaint in Donald Glover v. The Children’s...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Second Circuit Rejects Religious Discrimination Claim Based on COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate

In last term’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly increased employers’ obligation to consider religious exemption requests under Title VII. Rather than the previous de minimus burden standard,...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Religious Accommodations, Part Deux: Is the religious belief sincere?

In Part One of this two-part bulletin, we explored the expansive meaning of religious beliefs entitled to an accommodation under Title VII and the reluctance of courts to second guess whether a belief is “religious” in...more

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

Federal Courts in Wisconsin and Kentucky Issue Decisions in Favor of Employers Facing COVID-19–Related Legal Issues

In September 2023, federal trial courts in Wisconsin and Kentucky issued decisions dismissing plaintiffs’ claims related to employers’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements....more

Snell & Wilmer

2023 End-of-Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists (Part 1) Health and Welfare

Snell & Wilmer on

We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Sues Hooters of America for Race and Color Discrimination

Federal Agency Charges Restaurant Failed to Recall Employees Based on Race and/or Color - GREENSBORO, N.C. – Hooters of America, LLC, a Georgia Corporation, violated federal law when it failed to recall employees after a...more

Bowditch & Dewey

MA Federal Court Issues Favorable Ruling for Employers in Case Involving COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate and Request for Religious...

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On July 20, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed an employee’s Title VII lawsuit, by which she challenged her employer’s denial of her request for religious exemption from a...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2023

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Supreme Court Decides Freedom of Speech Trumps Public Accommodations Law In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, No. 21-476 (June 30, 2023), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed 6-3 the lower courts' denial of the injunction the plaintiff...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Supreme Court Clarifies "Undue Hardship" In Religious Accommodation

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On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court decided Groff v. DeJoy in a unanimous ruling that clarifies the “undue hardship” standard under which an employer can deny a requested religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil...more

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