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The Employer Handbook Blog
Articles Posted in Religion
How Inviting Employee Dialogue Created a Religious Discrimination Case
You’ve probably seen the headlines. Two flight attendants fired for posting about the Equality Act, a Ninth Circuit reversal, and the usual takes about religion vs. LGBTQ rights in the workplace. Here’s what those takes mostly missed.
A Good-Faith Accommodation Process Is Not Optional. This Complaint Explains Why.
Granting a religious accommodation request and then placing the employee on indefinite unpaid leave can itself be retaliation. A federal district court in Illinois recently refused to dismiss a Title VII religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit built on exactly that theory.
The Religious Accommodation Lessons Inside MLB’s Pride Night Controversy
Who would have guessed that the most interesting religious discrimination issue of the week would show up on a Major League Baseball field?
The Comparator Problem: What This Teacher’s Case Gets Wrong About Religious Discrimination
A teacher gets twice the students, a warning for observing a religious holiday, and a misconduct investigation after venting on a union Facebook page. She loses every claim.
Denied Every Religious Exemption Request, Attempted No Accommodations, and Still Won
Sometimes the facts supporting a religious accommodation denial are so strong that skipping the accommodation process doesn’t sink you. This healthcare employer found that out — and the 9th Circuit’s reasoning tells you exactly why.
What Happens When an Employee Frames a Workplace Grievance as Religious Expression?
A school district police officer posted a prayer on Facebook criticizing his supervisors. He was fired. His lawsuit raised constitutional claims, a retaliation claim, and a religious discrimination claim. The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal on all of them, and the reasons why are a useful lesson for any employer.
If Prayer Isn’t Enough to Support a Religious Exemption Request, What Is?
When does a religious exemption request stop being religious? A federal appeals court just answered that question in a way that eight of its own judges found alarming.
Can an Employee Lose a Discrimination Case by Refusing to Show His Own EEOC Charge?
An engineer got fired for making offensive comments about his non-Christian co-workers, then sued for religious discrimination. There was just one problem: he wouldn’t show anyone the EEOC charge he filed.
“Take it or leave it” is not a religious accommodation strategy
A weekend schedule change. A Sunday church conflict. And apparently no one at the company thought to have a conversation about it. Continue reading