Religious Beliefs
Employee: ‘Anti-bias training clashes with my religious beliefs’
What should an employer do if an employee says anti-bias training clashes with their religious beliefs? A new federal appeals court ruling backed an employer’s decision to terminate an employee who presented that objection and refused to attend the training. The employee did not show the termination decision was unlawfully discriminatory, the court said, and…
Fired for sending graphic videos to union prez: Jury awards worker $5.1M
A federal jury awarded $5.1 million to a flight attendant who was fired after she sent pro-life messages to her union president, the National Right to Work (NRTW) Legal Defense Foundation announced. The flight attendant worked for Southwest Airlines and was a member of its union – the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 –…
Flu shot requirements: Can you do that?
A new EEOC lawsuit is taking aim at a Michigan hospital that allegedly violated federal law by denying a job applicant’s request to be excused from a generally applicable flu shot requirement. The suit targets Mercy Health St. Mary’s, which is a hospital in Grand Rapids. The agency says Mercy Health illegally rescinded a job…
Flu vaccine misstep costs employer $50K
A Michigan hospital has agreed to pay $50,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit that accused it of pulling a job offer because the applicant sought a religious exemption to its flu vaccine requirement. The suit, filed by the EEOC, said the hospital violated Title VII’s ban on religious discrimination by pulling the…
Get ready: Supreme Court raises the bar on religious accommodation duty
As we predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the duty of employers to provide religious accommodation to employees under Title VII. The high Court did so via a unanimous decision that essentially redefines the concept of “undue hardship” in cases involving religious accommodation. Beginning immediately, employers must be prepared to do more to accommodate…
New suit sounds warning: Hairstyle bias can violate Title VII
Hairstyle bias can be unlawful religious discrimination under federal law, as a new lawsuit shows. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a job applicant who allegedly was rejected because of his dreadlocks hairstyle. But the applicant wears the hairstyle for religious reasons, the suit says – and…
Recovering pilot objects to AA meetings on religious grounds: Lawsuit follows
Requests for accommodation on religious grounds can come up in some unusual ways. Exhibit A: In a recent case, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Buddhist airline pilot who balked at his employer’s requirement that he attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings before returning to work. The case recently…
Religious accommodation case: City settles with DOJ
A recent settlement secured by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provides a basic lesson on how not to respond to requests for religious accommodation. The case involved Sylvia Coleman, who worked as a detention officer for the Lansing police department, which is in Michigan. Coleman is a Seventh-Day Adventist, a fact she says she…
Religious beliefs clash with job duties: What should employers do?
A newly filed lawsuit says CVS Health violated Virginia law when it dismissed a nurse practitioner who declined to prescribe or administer abortion-inducing drugs because of her religious beliefs. The suit says CVS accommodated the nurse practitioner’s religious beliefs for more than three years before abruptly pulling the accommodation and terminating her employment. It relies…
Tattoos at work: What’s OK, and what’s not?
When it comes to tattoos at work, how much power do employers have to give a thumbs up or say no go? If you don’t know the answer, you’re running the risk of exposing yourself to a possible lawsuit – and legal liability. The good news: Employers have plenty of leeway to set dress and…
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