In a year in which we saw a record number of religious accommodation charges and lawsuits, the Supreme Court has “clarified” the religious accommodation standard that employers and the EEOC have relied upon for more than 46 years.   

In Groff v. DeJoy, a former United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier, Gerald Groff claimed that he was unlawfully denied his requested religious accommodation to not work Sundays.  (Some of us remember the days when there was no mail or deliveries on Sunday). The USPS tried to find other carriers to cover Groff’s Sunday shifts, but because of a shortage of rural carriers, it often failed. Groff requested that the USPS exempt him from Sunday work, but the USPS declined, stating that his requested accommodation would lead to undue hardship for the USPS. The Third Circuit majority agreed concluding that exempting Groff from working on Sundays would burden his coworkers, disrupt the workplace and workflow, diminish morale, and damage the USPS’s operations.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers are required to reasonably accommodate employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs or observances conflict with work requirements, unless doing so would create an undue hardship for the employer.  With no statutory definition of “undue hardship”, courts have relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in TWA v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63 (1977), for the last 46 years to determine the parameters of the term.  In Hardison, the Court statedthat requiring an employer “to bear more than a de minimis cost in order to give [an employee] Saturdays off is an undue hardship.”  

In Groff, a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Alito, the Court changed the test.  According to the Court, it now “understands Hardison to mean that ‘undue hardship’ is shown when a burden is substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business.”  This is a significant change from what the EEOC and courts have stated, and employers have relied upon for years. The Court declined to incorporate the undue hardship test under the Americans with Disabilities Act which requires significant difficulty and expense.   

The Court also declined to determine what facts would meet this new test and remanded the case back to the lower court to decide, setting up what will likely be years of legal battles with courts attempting to apply this new standard.  But the Court did opine that “A good deal of the EEOC’s guidance in this area is sensible and will, in all likelihood, be unaffected by the Court’s clarifying decision.”  According to the Court, “Courts must apply the test to take into account all relevant factors in the case at hand, including the particular accommodations at issue and their practical impact in light of the nature, size, and operating cost of an employer.” 

Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to answer questions about the impact of the Court’s decision on employers and to help design and deliver effective training on the accommodation process, update accommodation, anti-harassment, and discrimination policies, and provide advice and counsel on how to navigate potential changes in internal religious accommodation policies.

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Photo of Patricia Anderson Pryor Patricia Anderson Pryor

Patricia Anderson Pryor is the office managing principal of the Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio offices, as well as the Louisville, Kentucky, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Patty remains purposefully poised on the precipice of the changing legal landscape, advising clients on everything from…

Patricia Anderson Pryor is the office managing principal of the Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio offices, as well as the Louisville, Kentucky, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Patty remains purposefully poised on the precipice of the changing legal landscape, advising clients on everything from vaccine mandates to the Dobbs response, to ESG and the attacks on DEI, to the impact of Loper Bright. The combination of Patty’s ability and tenacity to understand and apply workplace law to nuanced legal questions and specific situations results in clients perpetually asking this initial question, “What does Patty think?”

Patty is the National Head of the firm’s Emerging and Cross-Disciplinary Issues. She has over 25 years of experience representing and defending employers in nearly every form of employment litigation, including class actions. She represents and advises employers in federal and state administrative proceedings, in all forms of dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration, and in managing all aspects of the employment relationship. She has represented employers before the EEOC, the DOL, the DOJ, OSHA, the OFCCP, and the NLRB, in addition to various state agencies.

Focusing on the best possible outcome for the client Patty takes a 360-degree view, working with employers to avoid litigation by developing effective policies and practices, including harassment policies, FMLA practices, attendance programs, affirmative action programs and wellness plans. She conducts proactive wage and hour audits, harassment investigations and compensation/pay equity reviews.

Patty is a core team member of the firm’s Disability, Leave & Health Management practice group and a leader of the Religious Accommodation Team. She provides practical advice to help companies respond to remote work challenges, paid and unpaid leave situations and the most challenging accommodation requests, all of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, hybrid work and changes in the law.

Photo of Katharine C. Weber Katharine C. Weber

Katharine C. Weber is a principal in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and co-leader of the firm’s Disability, Leave and Health Management (DLHM) practice group. She has successfully assisted countless clients in handling their labor and employment issues in both…

Katharine C. Weber is a principal in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and co-leader of the firm’s Disability, Leave and Health Management (DLHM) practice group. She has successfully assisted countless clients in handling their labor and employment issues in both Ohio and Kentucky.

Katharine has experience litigating wrongful discharge cases; managing discrimination cases; negotiating collective bargaining agreements; representing employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal, Ohio and Kentucky agencies; advising management on employment relations; drafting employee handbooks; and negotiating severance agreements.

Katharine regularly advises clients on wage and hour issues. Over the past five years she has served as lead counsel on various wage and hour class and collective actions filed in both Ohio and Kentucky involving claims of misclassification, off the clock work, and other violations for which the plaintiffs claimed to be owed substantial overtime.

Additionally, Katharine is extremely knowledgeable in the area of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act, and brings sophisticated, yet easy to understand advice on handling and defending against sexual harassment claims. From helping clients analyze options and making recommendations on how to handle employee relations issues, to representing clients in complex discrimination cases, Katharine always provides creative solutions and passionate advocacy for her clients. She is also very involved in the transportation industry and has successfully litigated several cutting-edge employment law cases which have been of great benefit to transportation industry employers.

Photo of Andrew F. Maunz Andrew F. Maunz

Andrew F. Maunz is of counsel in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Drew is the co-leader of the Pay Equity resource group and his practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including litigation, preventive advice, and counseling.

Photo of Tara K. Burke Tara K. Burke

Tara K. Burke is the knowledge management (“KM”) attorney for Jackson Lewis P.C.’s Disability, Leave & Health Management practice group, and is based in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She works with employers to build positive and inclusive workplaces and…

Tara K. Burke is the knowledge management (“KM”) attorney for Jackson Lewis P.C.’s Disability, Leave & Health Management practice group, and is based in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She works with employers to build positive and inclusive workplaces and reduce legal risk through policy development, training, and employment law counseling.

Tara provides practical and legal advice to clients on employment law issues including harassment and discrimination prevention, diversity and inclusion, hiring and interviewing, internal investigations, disability accommodation and leave management, reductions in force, individual separations and employee relations issues. Tara works with clients, including multi-state employers, to identify the trends in workplace law and stay in compliance with the rapidly changing state-by-state legal landscape. Tara helps clients of all sizes and in all industries, create, revise and implement workplace policies and procedures including employee handbooks. She also routinely conducts workplace training for leadership, human resources, managers and employees on numerous topics including strong management practices that reduce legal risk and build effective teams, preventing sexual harassment by supporting respectful and positive workplaces, achieving winning results through diversity and inclusion, conducting investigations, and employee accommodations and leaves of absence.

Tara has defended employers in employment-related litigation and administrative proceedings.

In addition to working with for-profit clients, Tara also works with non-profit clients, including small non-profits, to provide employment law expertise to non-profit organizations supporting our communities across the country.