Covid-19 vaccination mandates over the last year have repositioned how important employers’ religious accommodation policies can be. For many employers, a significant amount of resources have been spent on determining when it is appropriate to exempt employees due to their religion and just what an accommodation might look like.
This focus has naturally resulted in thousands of unwanted charges of discrimination before federal and state agencies enforcing anti-discrimination laws.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance when it is in conflict with a workplace requirement and unless doing so would cause more than a minimal undue hardship. Both the case law and agency guidance tend to disfavor claims that an employee is insincere or has a belief, practice, or observance that is not religious in nature.
On the other hand, what counts as an undue hardship is defined rather broadly under Title VII.
As we approach—and pass—a plethora of religious holidays and events (Easter, Ramadan, Beltane, Passover, and Vaisakhi as...
Baltimore Police Officers Mordechai Mandelbaum and Menachem Rosenbloom were found guilty on multiple charges on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following an encounter that ended with a surrendering man being ...