Religious Discrimination - General

On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy , a case raising the issue of how great a burden an employer must bear in order to accommodate an employee’s religious belief or practices.

There has been a recent, dramatic rise in antisemitism in the United States. In this podcast, David Goldman, the Executive Director and General Counsel of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, shares his perspective on how this trend is impacting our communities and workplaces, and offers some pra

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether its own definition of “undue hardship” with respect to religious accommodation requests, which employers have relied upon for more than 45 years, remains valid when it hears oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy , No. 22-174.

It is no secret that antisemitism is on the rise throughout the United States. The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL’s) 2021 Survey on Jewish Americans’ Experience with Antisemitism found that in the last five years, 63 percent of Jewish people either experienced or witnessed an antisemitic event.

Executive Summary : The recent Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School Distric t, 142 S. Ct. 2407 (June 27, 2022), is the latest to promote free exercise of speech and religion over all other competing interests. In its June 27, 2022 opinion, the Court’s conservative majority held that

A school district infringed on an assistant football coach’s rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment when it suspended him for continuing to publicly pray after football games in violation of its policy, the U.S. Supreme Court has held. Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist . , No. 21-

On July 9, 2021, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, issued a 7-3 decision in the closely watched case Sandor Demkovich v. St Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City and the Archdiocese of Chicago . The Seventh Circuit found that the ministerial exception acted as a per s

The U.S. Supreme Court has found that Philadelphia’s ordinance requiring a private foster care agency to certify same-sex couples as foster parents burdened the agency’s religious exercise in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

When it comes to striking a balance between the religious rights of government employees and the government’s duty to avoid Establishment Clause violations, “context matters.” In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District , 991 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2021), the Ninth Circuit held that the public prayer by Jo

Whether or not a religious belief is sincerely held by an applicant or employee is rarely at issue in most religious discrimination lawsuits. With both the EEOC and DFEH guidance requiring employers to accommodate an employee who has a sincerely held religious belief that prevents an employee from r

As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more readily available, employers are considering mandatory vaccination for their employees and in particular, how to respond to employee requests for accommodation, whether on the basis of disability or religion. In Horvath v. City of Leander , the U.S. Court of Appe

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has approved revisions to its Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination (Guidance). The revised Guidance, approved on January 15, 2021, draws upon several U.S. Supreme Court opinions issued since the agency’s last significant update to i

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that it is seeking public input on its updated Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination.

Over the past 10 years, there have been several significant changes related to how federal courts handle alleged religious discrimination. Catching up to those changes, this week the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued draft guidance covering important issues such as the balance of

Last week, the US Supreme Court issued two rulings that affect a limited class of employers facing claims of discrimination.

The First Amendment Religion Clauses exempt religious employers from suit by school teachers for alleged employment discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court has held.

By: SCOTUS Strengthens Religious Exemptions From Workplace Discrimination Law and ACA Birth Control Mandate The United States Supreme Court issued two decisions this week in cases involving religion and the workplace. In one case, the Court held that religious organizations may not be sued for discr

The U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the application of the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses to employment decisions made by religious institutions

Executive Summary: Today, July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court decided two cases – both by a 7 to 2 vote – involving the impact of religion in employment. First, the Supreme Court clarified the applicability of the Ministerial Exemption for religious organizations, including religious schools, from the f

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review two consolidated cases that will afford it an opportunity to develop the “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws it first announced in a 2012 case, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commi