Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs – but what exactly does this mean? Can an employee keep a 3-foot statute of Jesus in their cubicle? What if an employee refuses to work every Sunday because it is his Sabbath? And how about the guy that wears the “Official Mensch” button to work every day?
Have a Blessed Day!
An employee concludes every email with “Have a Blessed Day.” Seems pretty innocuous but it makes a few co-workers mad. Can the employer make her stop using this closing in all her work emails?
Groff v. DeJoy, Title VII & Religious Accommodations
In this CLE, Jason Boulette will explore the new standard for accommodating religious expression at work, the conflict between the right to engage in religious expression and the right to be free from it and strategies for navigating the gray area between the two. Jason will start by discussing the evolving legal definition of “religion” in the U.S. across constitutional and statutory contexts with an emphasis on employment law under Title VII, detail the landmark Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy (2023) which significantly raised the standard for denying religious accommodations in the workplace and analyzes the resulting case law under Groff and what it means for employers going forward. To access the course please click here: Religion at Work: A Conflict of Rights.
Participants will be able to:
* Understand how the law’s definition of “religion” has changed over time
* Identify common characteristics of “religion” for purposes of Title VII
* Predict how Groff v. DeJoy affects litigation & employer obligations under Title VII
* Distinguish between effective and preferred accommodations
* Apply EEOC guidance and best practices in workplace scenarios
Jason Boulette, Esq. – Employment Law Master
Jason Boulette, Esq., is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the former Chair of the Labor and Employment Section of the State Bar of Texas.
This CLE course is offered in the following states:
* Alaska (AK)
* Alabama (AL)
* Arizona (AZ)
* California (CA)
* Connecticut (CT)
* District of Columbia (DC)
* Illinois (IL)
* Maryland (MD)
* Massachusetts (MA)
* Michigan (MI)
* Missouri (MO)
* New Hampshire (NH)
* New Jersey (NJ)
* New York (NY)
* North Dakota (ND)
* Pennsylvania (PA)
* South Dakota (SD)
* Vermont (VT)
Texas CLE
Attorney Credits offers CLE for attorneys in Texas and around the country. For more information about CLE in Texas please click the following link: TX CLE.