Holland & Hart employment and labor partner Steven Gutierrez shares insights with several media outlets discussing the US Supreme Court’s ruling last month in Groff v. Dejoy. In a unanimous decision, the high court ruled that employers can only deny an employee's request for a religious accommodation under federal law if they can show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.
Gutierrez reviewed the decision with Employee Benefit News, sharing, “In other words, employers cannot dismiss religious accommodations requests as easily as they had done in the past,” adding, “This decision changes interpretation dramatically in favor of employees and will protect a far greater number of employees seeking religious accommodations."
He also discussed the ruling with SHRM, saying, “Remember that not every person within the same religious denomination believes the same things and practices their faith the same way.”
Read the Employee Benefit News article here: “HR teams will feel the weight of SCOTUS religious accommodations ruling,” July 11, 2023.
Read the SHRM Employment Law article here: “Employers May Need to Change Religious Accommodation Policies,” July 11, 2023.