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 vaccination requirements. Once such requirements ended, religious accommodation issues largely faded into the background for most employers, and accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act have dominated the discourse in the area of workplace accommodations. However, employer religious accommodation requirements have actually broadened since 2020, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, and employers should not forget these requirements simply because they are no longer at the forefront.
Under Title VII, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation to employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with work requirements, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship” for the employer. In 1977, the Supreme Court held in TWA v. Hardison that, in the context of religious accommodation, requiring an employer to bear more than a de minimis cost is an undue hardship.
The Supreme Court reconsidered its position in 2023, in the case of Groff v. DeJoy. Gerald Groff wasa United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier who requested not to work on Sundays for religious reasons. USPS could not find other employees to cover Groff’s shifts and...
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...