In the post-Groff era, with the EEOC’s invigorated resolve to protect employees’ religious freedoms, employers must be prepared when responding to requests for religious accommodations. The EEOC has made it clear that preventing religious discrimination in the workplace is one of its top priorities.
In 2023, the Supreme Court held in the case of Groff v. DeJoy that for an employer to establish an undue hardship as a defense to implementing a religious accommodation, the undue hardship must be a burden that is substantial in the overall context of its business. This shifted from how courts previously interpreted the undue hardship standard, only requiring employers to show “more than a de minimis cost” when proving undue hardship. Thus, heightening the standard employers have to meet. Additionally, since fiscal year 2020, there has been an uptick in religious discrimination charges being filed with the EEOC, with fiscal year 2022 seeing a significant increase in vaccine-related charges filed on the basis of religion.
On August 22, 2025, the EEOC issued a press release highlighting recent efforts made by the agency to protect religious freedom at work. The highlighted efforts provide a glimpse of the measures taken in the 200 days preceding the publication of the press release. The press release overtly acknowledges that preventing religious discrimination in the workplace is crucial to its enforcement efforts.
Given the Supreme Court’s holding in Groff, the increase in religious discrimination charges being filed, and the EEOC's prioritization of preventing religious discrimination in the workplace, employers cannot afford to be inattentive to potential religious discrimination in the workplace. Employers should be knowledgeable about how to accommodate an employee’s request for a religious accommodation properly; learn more in our Religious Discrimination whitepaper. Employers Council’s training classes offers guidance to help prevent all forms of discrimination in the workplace; Discrimination in the Workplace – The Law of EEO provides a firm foundation of knowledge.
Our staff is happy to assist Consulting and Enterprise members with any questions and strategies when responding to employees’ religious accommodation requests. Contact us at info@employerscouncil.org.
Brandon Garrett is an attorney with Employers Council.