Before First Liberty Institute prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy, employers were free to disregard religious accommodation requests by showing the requested accommodation would interfere with business operations, even minimally.
However, the Supreme Court declared in Groff that employers must accommodate employees’ religious practices unless they can demonstrate a “substantial increased cost” in the context of the business. Employment attorneys have taken note, but we have seen several human resources managers in various businesses fail to acknowledge the new standard.
Practically speaking, this means religious employees have continued to face opposition from the supervisors they interact with, even though employers are often ready to accommodate religious practices when their attorneys review their human resources employees’ actions.
As a former corporate employment attorney myself, I know this pattern. Employment attorneys are quick to recommend a strategy for avoiding lawsuits, so they direct human resources managers to respect employees’ legal rights as much as possible. But by the time the matter reaches the legal department, the religious employee may have already endured several rejected requests for accommodation.
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