On April 15, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota issued its decision granting partial summary judgment to the Catholic Benefits Association, on behalf of its members and the Bismarck Diocese (collectively the CBA). The court found that the portions of the PWFA Final Regulations that require employers to reasonably

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 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.
Special Report: PWFA Final Regulations
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released the text of the final regulations and interpretative guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) on April 15, 2024. They were formally published in the April 19, 2024, Federal Register and will be effective 60 days later.
The EEOC received more than 100,000 public comments, including comments…
What Employers Should Know About the Latest CDC COVID-19 Guidance
It has been almost exactly four years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the American working landscape. Many of us followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through multiple changes and guidance, including from no mask, to mask, to no mask. On March 1, 2024, the CDC changed the isolation guidance for those with…
Congress Violated U.S. Constitution When It Passed Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Texas Court Rules
Congress improperly passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a federal court in Texas has ruled. State of Texas v. Department of Justice et al., No. 5:23-cv-00034 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 27, 2024). The court permanently enjoined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Justice from…
Groff takes DeJoy: Supreme Court Changes Standard in Religious Accommodation Case
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…
No Religious Accommodation Required from Vaccine Mandate at Fictional Hospital
Soap Operas are known for drama. Nothing has caused more drama in the last two years than vaccine mandates. Last week, a California court determined that a plaintiff’s request for religious accommodation at General Hospital could not be accommodated. The court concluded defendant had advanced sufficient evidence that unvaccinated employees threatened the health and safety…
CMS COVID-19 Vaccination, Testing Requirements to Formally End This Summer
The Biden-Harris Administration announced on May 1, 2023, that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would soon be eliminating COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare providers. On May 31, 2023, CMS issued the awaited Final Rule.
Read more here.
DOL Pumps It Up With New Guidance on PUMP Act Enforcement
The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2023-02 providing guidance to agency officials responsible for enforcement of the “pump at work” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) including those recently enacted under the 2022 PUMP Act.
New Executive Order Relieves Federal Contractors From Safer Federal Workforce Requirements
As anticipated, President Joe Biden has rescinded the COVID-19 safety requirements for federal contractors in connection with the declared end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the World Health Organization determination that COVID-19 is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Read more here.
EEOC Revises its COVID-19 Guidance, Again
On May 15, 2023, in response to the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 technical assistance: “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws”. This guidance has now been updated roughly twenty times since the start of the…