CIHLER eCornell Keynote Series: Making Sense of Religious and Disability Accommodations After Groff: Same Words Different Meanings / New Court Different Leanings

Last June, the Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy changed almost 50 years of precedent and held that employers must provide religious accommodations for employees unless the employer would incur “substantial costs.”

Previously, the employer only had to provide accommodation that had less than a de minimus effect on the business. While the court did not define “substantial costs,” it did state that employee morale and fairness were not such costs.

This change has created an entire new paradigm for employers accommodating employees’ religious needs, especially because employees need only state that they have a sincerely held belief in order to be protected, unlike with disability.

In this webinar, guest host Professor David Sherwyn ’86 and employment attorney Ilene Berman ’86 will discuss how this change will affect employers and employees as well as how this example of the Court’s “stacking of rights” has, once again, put religion above other freedoms.

What you’ll learn

• Historical precedent and the history of employers and religious accommodations
• The dynamics of recent new protections
• How the Groff decision impacts employment relations
• How the Supreme Court’s “stacking of rights” has prioritized religion over other freedoms

Speakers

• David Sherwyn ’86 (ILR), JD ’89
• Ilene Berman ’86 (ILR), founding partner, Continuum Legal Group LLP

Register here