Tag: Supreme Court

April 11, 2024

Corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs continue to face new challenges after the Supreme Court’s decision last year banning explicit use of race in admissions to higher education—SFFA v. Harvard/UNC. It’s important to recognize that although the Court’s decision […]

August 23, 2023

Since 1977, employers evaluating whether an employee’s religious accommodation request would cause undue hardship on their business had a low burden to meet. A denial of a religious accommodation could likely be justified if the proposed accommodation involved more than […]

April 13, 2023

The title is a prediction, not a done deal. But no later than June 2023, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court will jettison a 46-year-old case that neutered an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate all aspects of an employee’s religious […]

July 11, 2022

Voluntary arbitration agreements involving federal law are enforced under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Section 1 of the FAA exempts certain classes of workers, however, from the enforcement of arbitration. The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a federal circuit court […]

February 22, 2022

Many of our subscribers are school districts or public employers whose employment law issues sometimes diverge from those of private businesses. Here is one: Government employers must respect employees’ First Amendment rights to free speech and religious expression. Private employers […]

November 2, 2021

Maine can move ahead and enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate against designated healthcare employees after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to a group of affected workers on Friday, when the statute was supposed to take effect. […]

April 13, 2021

With the Supreme Court’s ruling on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding gender identification, can we leave the Title VII disclaimer in our company handbook and applications as is? Or does the wording need to be […]

August 11, 2020

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases, both by 7-2 votes, involving religion’s impact on employment. First, the Court clarified the applicability of the ministerial exemption for religious schools and organizations from the federal antidiscrimination laws. Second, the […]

July 9, 2020

A pair of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court on July 8 handed a win to employers that desire to rely on religious convictions in their employment decisions. One ruling affirms the “ministerial exception,” and the other allows private employers […]

February 11, 2020

Life may be a meme—or at least it may seem that way sometimes, especially after a meme embodying intergenerational conflict recently worked its way into arguments in an age discrimination case before the highest court in the land. At oral […]

December 30, 2019

Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibit discrimination based on gender identity (as part of its prohibition on gender discrimination)? The EEOC has said yes, it does. “Federal law on the subject arises out of agency and court […]

June 12, 2019

Halfway through the current administration, it’s unlikely there will be much significant employment legislation passed between now and the next election. With the Democrats controlling the House of Representatives, it doesn’t really matter what laws the president proposes and the […]

October 2, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court started a new term Oct. 1 and immediately jumped into oral argument in an age-discrimination case. The high court will also hear arguments in an arbitration case later this week. Here are the key issues on […]

April 4, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in a case directly affecting employers of auto service advisers is expected to have implications for employers of other kinds of workers as well since the Court rejected the notion that exemptions to the […]