The legal landscape surrounding religious accommodations and religious discrimination and harassment in the workplace has shifted in recent years. To help employers navigate this evolving area, below is a survey of key milestones – including the U.S. Supreme Court's Groff v. DeJoy decision in 2023, Executive Order 14202 entitled "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias," and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)'s related enforcement actions in 2025.
The Groff Decision: Raising the Standard for Religious Accommodations
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Groff, which altered the standard for religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by raising the threshold for what constitutes an "undue hardship." Specifically, the Court held that employers must accommodate an employee's religious practice unless doing so would result in "substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of [the employer's] business." This replaced the previous "de minimis" standard, which permitted employers to deny accommodations if they resulted in anything more than a minimal cost or operational burden.
Executive Order 14202, "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias"
Executive Order 14202, issued Feb. 6, 2025, and entitled "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias," focuses on protecting Christian employees from discrimination and bias, hostility, violence, and vandalism, citing claims that Christians had been targeted. The Executive Order established a task force with a mandate that includes reviewing the activities of all executive departments and agencies, including the EEOC; identifying any alleged unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct; and recommending appropriate remedial measures.
The EEOC's "200 Days of Action" in 2025
On Aug. 22, 2025, the EEOC released a press statement summarizing its "200 Days of Action" campaign. This campaign marked a period of enforcement of alleged religious discrimination and harassment violations, including:
- Recovery of over $55 million for employees affected by vaccine mandates and employer conciliations that included employer commitments to offer reinstatement to employees who had been terminated for refusing to comply with such mandates.
- A $21 million class settlement with Columbia University for allegedly engaging in harassment based on national origin, religion, and/or race – including antisemitism. The settlement established a dedicated claims process to compensate affected faculty, staff, and student employees who, following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, believe they were subjected to the alleged harassment because of their Jewish faith, Jewish ancestry, and/or Israeli national origin, or who opposed or reported the harassment. This represented the largest reported EEOC employment discrimination resolution in nearly 20 years, according to the EEOC press statement.
- EEOC-led lawsuits for failure to make religious accommodations relating to requested schedule changes and uniform modifications.
Takeaways for Employers
As the last few years have shown, the legal landscape surrounding religious accommodations is evolving. To navigate these developments, employers may wish to review their policies and practices relating to anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and religious accommodations to address the current legal standard applicable to religious accommodation requests.
Employers must apply their policies and practices consistently across all faiths and engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with employees requesting accommodations. Employers may wish to consult with experienced legal counsel when questions arise regarding requests for religious accommodations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
