The Employer Handbook

Articles Posted in Religion

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Won’t you help little Ivy Meyer achieve her Girl Scout Cookies sales goal?

It’s that time of year again.

Coworkers have begun bombarding you with requests to purchase Girl Scout Cookies. So, in that spirit, let’s tackle:

  • Whether unions will start organizing your workplace if you relax your no-solicitation policy to allow employees to sell Girl Scout Cookies;
  • Can employees use your email system to proselytize if co-workers use it to sell Girl Scout Cookies; and
  • A bonus discrimination case involving the sale of Girl Scout Cookies gone terribly wrong.

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By Jeffrey Beall – Own work, CC BY 4.0, Link

Most of you have probably heard of the case that went to the Supreme Court involving a Colorado baker who would customize a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because he believed that doing so would violate his religious beliefs. The case is called Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

Yesterday, in a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the baker.

Today, you’ll read headlines like, “Supreme Court sides with Colorado baker who refused to make wedding cake for same-sex couple” or “Supreme Court Hands Win To Baker Who Refused Service To Gay Couple”

But, don’t get it twisted. Continue reading

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Image Credit: FreeStockPhotos.biz (http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/15030)

We employment lawyers have stories upon stories.

When it comes to the employer-employee relationship, especially when that relationship hits the skids, we’ve seen it all.

But, every once in a while there comes a story that even raises my eyebrows. Continue reading

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Image Credit: Pexels.com and http://negativespace.co/photos/computer-in-bed-2/)

Do your employees appreciate that what they do on social media on their own time can cost them their job?

Do your employees think that “freedom of speech” can save them from getting fired? Continue reading

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Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/blueprint-ruler-architecture-964629/)

I started the week presenting to HR audiences in DC and NJ about accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Today, I want to pivot into religious accommodations by highlighting a recent federal court decision, which can teach employers a thing or two about how to engage in a good-faith interactive dialogue. Continue reading

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Pixabay.com

Last Thursday, the Third Circuit of Appeals issued this opinion in Fallon v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania, in which the court addressed religious accommodation and flu shots. Specifically, the court focused on what constitutes “religion” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

So, rather than write this up as a blog post, I thought I’d enlist the help of two family members who apparently enjoy flu shots; namely, my older son Brooks (8) and my older daughter Ivy (6). Continue reading

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Lee Park, Charlottesville, VAFollowing a tumultuous weekend in Charlottesville, VA, where a white nationalist march turned deadly, it appears as though at least one attendee will return home from the rally to find himself unemployed.

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“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”