Written by Don Byrd, these updates bring together the latest news impacting the conversation around religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
The Court clarified that the standard an employer must meet for establishing an “undue hardship” is not the “de minimis cost” test used by courts for many years – including by the 7th Circuit in Kluge – but is instead whether a religious accommodation would “result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.”
The EEOC report suggests in a footnote that a “significant increase in vaccine-related charges filed on the basis of religion” is responsible for the spike in religion cases generally.
In rejecting the request for a preliminary injunction, the court emphasized that the policy impacts the teacher's speech only in her official capacity as public school employee, not her private expression.
In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court emphasized that unlike the goods and services offered by many other businesses, the custom websites proposed at issue in this case are “expressive speech” protected by the Constitution.
In the Groff v. DeJoy decision, the Court explained that co-workers’ feelings about religion, or their personal objection to religious practices, are not sufficient to deny an employee’s religious accommodation request.
The Oklahoma Charter School Board approved a Catholic school’s application for charter school funding, making it the first religious charter school in the country and setting the stage for a likely legal battle.