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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) requires employers to accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs unless accommodation would result in an undue hardship. Historically, denial of a religious accommodation has carried a minimal burden of showing hardship, but a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court just made denying a […]
A recent (and surprising) ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court may allow businesses to be sued in states where they have little connection. The Court ruled 5-4 to uphold a Pennsylvania law that requires a corporation to consent to the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania courts over them as a condition of registering to do business there. […]
Since 1977, employers evaluating whether an employee’s religious accommodation request would cause undue hardship on their business had a low burden to meet. A denial of a religious accommodation could likely be justified if the proposed accommodation involved more than de minimis cost or inconvenience to the employer. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court changed that […]
On May 19, 2023, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision creating a three-way split among federal courts on the handling of collective actions filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In deciding whether and when current and former employees receive notice of a collective action, the 6th Circuit created a new […]
On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving a former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker who was denied a religious accommodation to observe his sabbath. The broad implications of a decision that favors the former worker could change the analysis for employers when assessing employee requests for religious […]
The title is a prediction, not a done deal. But no later than June 2023, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court will jettison a 46-year-old case that neutered an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate all aspects of an employee’s religious observance or practice. And what will the vote be? 9-0. Read on. How Did We […]
Voluntary arbitration agreements involving federal law are enforced under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Section 1 of the FAA exempts certain classes of workers, however, from the enforcement of arbitration. The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a federal circuit court split over whether employees who load cargo for the transportation of goods are engaged in […]
A number of high-profile companies are speaking out against the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision overruling Roe v. Wade, and they are backing up their criticism by vowing to help employees wishing to travel for legal abortions. But employers taking such action may face tricky legal issues.
Retirement plan fiduciaries have a duty to monitor investment options continuously and remove all imprudent ones, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently ruled in a much-anticipated decision. In the opinion, the Court made it clear the fiduciaries can’t ignore imprudent investment options in 401(k)s or other retirement plans even if other, prudent choices are […]
Many of our readers are school districts or public employers whose employment law issues sometimes diverge from those of private businesses. Here is one: Government employers must respect employees’ First Amendment rights to free speech and religious expression. Private employers have no such legal duty. The contours of the rights (essentially to be free from […]