Supreme Court “Clarifies” Employer Duty to Make Religious Accommodations

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On June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy, the US Supreme Court unanimously adopted a new interpretation of the standard for when an employee’s religious accommodation poses an “undue hardship” for an employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII). In Groff, the Supreme Court repudiated the commonly held understanding of Transworld Airlines v. Hardison—a nearly 50-year-old decision. Under the old Hardison interpretation, employers could demonstrate “undue hardship” by merely showing that accommodating an employee’s religious practice would require “more than a de minimis cost.” Post-Groff, employers must engage in a fact-specific inquiry to determine whether the “burden is substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business.”