“We are terminating you for ‘denying biological and chromosomal sex assigned at birth.’” That’s what a transgender woman alleges HR told her when she was fired from her job at a religious university. In response, she sued for sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.…
In a recent decision, the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a religious discrimination claim. The case involved an employee terminated for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination due to her religious beliefs. Yes, I get it—COVID-19 cases may feel like old news. But stick with me…
Suppose an employee, an adherent of a religion you’ve never heard of, requests time off from work on certain religious observance days. The EEOC has some advice for employers: Because the definition of religion is broad and protects beliefs, observances, and practices with which the employer may be unfamiliar, the…
Many of your employees and applicants will celebrate religious holidays between now and the end of the year. Today, for example, is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which began last night at sundown. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer to…
I’ve read this post and this post about this recent lawsuit about seven current and former employees who claim they were forced to work with ‘Nazi sympathizers.’ They allege that the company hired and promoted a white employee with a swastika tattoo on his face and ties to a white…
Well, not me. But, a former employee claimed it happened to him. So, let’s cue R.E.M. and talk about religious expression in the workplace. According to the complaint filed in federal court, the plaintiff had the chops to succeed at his job. However, a new manager, “by his derogatory language…
Colloquially, today’s topic is “reverse religious discrimination.” But, more accurately, it’s about a claim of “religious nonconformity.” In plain English, what happens when an employee refuses to comply with their employer’s religion? The case involves a video editor who started working for a company in 2019. At first, things were…
After taking a few days off and rocking out in Seattle, I’m back to blogging about employment law. 🤘🤘🤘 Today, we pull back the curtain and reveal how the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will address failure-to-accommodate claims under the Supreme Court’s new religious accommodation standard established last year in…
Earlier this week, I wrote about a judge calling out an employee for trying to cast a personal choice to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 as some deeply religious decision. Last night, I read another recent opinion from a federal judge who called an employee trying to avoid a mandatory vaccination requirement…
I’ll bet nowhere on your HR job description is there anything about serving as the religion police. But during the pandemic, some companies were pretty persnickety when considering employee requests for accommodations from getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Companies that applied heightened scrutiny did so at their own risk. In its…