Religious Discrimination Archives - Kollman & Saucier P.A.

Repercussions of Supreme Court’s Groff Decision Start Appearing In Religious Exemption Cases

Vincent Jackson

09/29/2023

COVID-19, EEOC, Employment Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination

The impact of the Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling in Groff v. DeJoy, which raised the standard for employers to accommodate religious exemptions, is beginning to be felt in lower courts. Gone are the days when an employer can lawfully disregard a religious accommodation if it imposes more than a de minimis cost on the business. With Groff, employers must now demonstrate that the burden of granting a religious accommodation for an employee...

Jordan Dunham

06/29/2023

Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination, Supreme Court Decisions

On June 29, 2023 the United States Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. ___ (2023). This highly anticipated decision changes the individual assessment employers must use when evaluating a request for accommodation for religious reasons and whether the accommodation is reasonable or creates an undue hardship. While this is one of several highly anticipated rulings from the high court this summer, it is not...

Darrell VanDeusen

05/22/2023

Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination

I (he/him) grew up in a small farm town in Western New York. I represent a number of institutions of higher education, as well as a number of faith-based non-profits. So, when an article was printed in last Friday’s New York Times that merged those things together? That’s like chocolate and peanut butter; it got my attention. This blog looks at reports of the recent firing of two employees at Houghton University. At this point it is...

Vincent Jackson

05/18/2023

Gender Identity, Hostile Work Environment, Religious Discrimination, Sexual Orientation

A recent case from the Second Circuit illustrates the growing tension between religious discrimination claims and protection of LGBTQ rights under Title VII. In Zdunski v. Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment against an employee who alleged that, by being forced to attend mandatory LGBTQ anti-discrimination trainings, he was subject to religious discrimination. The...

Clifford Geiger

04/14/2023

Religious Discrimination

Brownsburg Community School Corporation (“Brownsburg” or the “School”) is a public school corporation in Brownsburg, Indiana. Its high school teachers are required to call all students by the names and pronouns registered in the School’s official student database. John Kluge, the sole music and orchestra teacher at Brownsburg High School, objected on religious grounds to using the first names of transgender students to the extent that...

Mathew Moldawer

03/27/2023

COVID-19, First Amendment Protections, Religious Discrimination

The world is seemingly going back to pre-Covid normalcy. Masks, while still present some places, no longer litter the trashcans outside grocery stores and restaurants. People are taking a big breath of fresh air, and not just six feet from someone. Nevertheless, litigation concerning Covid and company policies regarding the vaccine linger in courts around the U.S. One such case has seemingly come to an end and the company is out of a...

Darrell VanDeusen

02/14/2022

Religious Discrimination

Over the past 10 years, the Supreme Court has repeatedly taken a deep dive into the Venn diagram overlap of balancing anti-discrimination laws against “freedom of religion” under that pesky First Amendment’s “church and state” thing. Relevant to our topic today, the Court addressed the scope of the “ministerial exception” in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012) and reaffirmed it in Our Lady...

Kollman & Saucier

11/29/2021

Religious Discrimination

Although religious institutions are generally required to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws, certain exceptions apply. One of those exceptions is the “ministerial exception,” a legal doctrine that shields religious institutions from liability for employment discrimination claims brought by a “minister” of the institution. The exception, grounded in the religious clauses of the First Amendment, seeks to protect the rights of...

Clifford Geiger

10/28/2021

COVID-19, Religious Discrimination

On October 25, 2021,the EEOC updated its guidance on What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws. The EEOC added six new Q&As addressing Title VII religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Generally, job applicants and employees may request an exception, called a religious or reasonable accommodation, from an employer requirement that conflicts with their sincerely held...

Vincent Jackson

04/07/2021

Religious Discrimination

This past Monday, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Small v. Memphis Light, Gas & Water, Docket No. 19-1388, and by doing so batted back a challenge to the longstanding precedent regarding employers’ duties to accommodate religious practices of employees. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires accommodation of employees’ religious practices whenever doing so would not cause an “undue hardship.” In 1977, the Supreme...

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Repercussions of Supreme Court’s Groff Decision Start Appearing In Religious Exemption Cases

Groff v. DeJoy: Employers Have A Clarified Standard For Their Duty To Provide Reasonable Accommodations

Pronouns Present Problems? Please.

Second Circuit Turns Down Employee’s Claim of Wrongful Termination for Refusal to Attend LGBTQ Bias Training Session

Public School Did Not Discriminate Based On Religion By Requiring High School Teachers To Address Students By Preferred Names And Pronouns

“Preserve” Your Constitutional Rights, But Not Against A Private Employer

A Close Shave (or not) for the “Ministerial Exception”

Ninth Circuit Extends Ministerial Exception To High School Principal, Barring Race Claims Against Christian School

EEOC Updates Guidance On Religious Exemptions From Employer Vaccine Requirements

Supreme Court Declines To Set New Standard For Workplace Religious Accommodations

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Category: Religious Discrimination

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