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.…
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. Last week, the EEOC issued a…
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? “F*** Sister Jean -everyone.” Last week, a radio talk-show host in…
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…
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…
On the day before Halloween, a Pennsylvania federal court (here) denied an employer’s attempt to have a religious-accommodation case dismissed early. This isn’t your run of the mill religious-accommodation case. “The Book of Revelation prohibits the mark of the devil” The plaintiff, a school bus driver, alleges that she was…
Following 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. “Unite the Right” attendees are getting outed on social media and apparently losing their jobs. Seth Millstein at…
Today’s post is brought to you by the letter “S.” Back in 2010, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed two religious-accommodation lawsuits against a company called JBS USA, LLC. One was in Nebraska. I’ve blogged about that one before (here). The other was filed in Colorado. And that’s the…
I’m gonna let you in on a little secret — an easy-peasy way to accommodate an employee who needs a day off from work as a religious accommodation… Let the employee use a vacation day. Yeah, I know. That’s not so novel. Yet, here I am blogging about a NY…
Baseball as a religion? Remember what Annie Savoy from the great Bull Durham said: “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are…