Religious Discrimination

Can You Stop an Employee from Signing Emails “In Christ”?

the situation An employee for a state agency adds the phrase “In Christ” to his email signature.  The state agency tells him to stop and he eventually loses his job based on his refusal to stop using this phrase in his email valediction.  Can the employee bring a claim of religious discrimination? the ruling Maybe […]

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Can You Require Employees to Get a Flu Shot?

the situation An employer has a policy requiring all new employees to get a flu shot. After a job offer is extended to a certain applicant, she tells the employer that she has a religious objection to getting a flu shot.  If the employer revokes the job offer, is this discrimination? the ruling It might […]

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How Far Do You Have to Go to Accommodate a Religious Belief?

the situation An employee who is normally scheduled to work one Saturday a month tells you that he cannot do so because he is a Seventh Day Adventist (and thus celebrates Sabbath on Saturdays). You tell him he is free to use leave for any Saturdays on which he would otherwise have to work, but […]

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What if You Don’t Agree with a Religious Objection?

the situation You decide to implement a new time tracking system which involves the use of biometric hand scanners by employees to scan their right hands to clock in or out for a shift.  One of your long time employees claims that he cannot use this kind of hand scanner because its use would conflict […]

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Employers face possible claims for failure to accommodate even where there is no actual knowledge of a need for accommodation

Back in March, I posted about the case before the United States Supreme Court involving a girl who claimed that she was discriminated against because of her religion when Abercrombie & Fitch didn’t hire her because of her headscarf. The Tenth Circuit had found that because the plaintiff did not inform Abercrombie before its hiring […]

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Does an employee have to specifically ask for a religious accommodation?

The United States Supreme Court heard argument this past week on this very issue in the case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., a case appealed from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Samantha Elauf was a teenager in Tulsa, Oklahoma who applied to work at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in 2008. […]

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New Guidance From EEOC on Religious Garb and Grooming in the Workplace

Last week, the EEOC issued two new technical assistance publications related to workplace rights and responsibilities regarding religious dress and grooming under Title VII. The two publications issued by the EEOC are a question and answer guide, titled “Religious Garb in the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities” and a fact sheet to accompany this publication (found […]

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