Wednesday, May 28, 2025
When rights collide: religious beliefs vs. gender identity in the workplace
An employee tells HR, "I can't use my coworker's preferred pronouns. It's against my religion." What now?
This isn't theoretical or hypothetical—it's happening in businesses across the country. Just ask Spencer Wimmer, a former Generac Power Systems employee who refused to use a transgender colleague's pronouns on the basis of his Christian faith and was fired as a result. He's now filed an EEOC charge, claiming religious discrimination.
This is not an isolated development. It's the front lines of a growing legal and cultural tension: What happens when one person's protected rights collide with another's?
Here's my take: We can't use religion as a license to discriminate.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, May 15, 2025
Managing employees' food allergies and preferences in the workplace
One employee is vegan. Another is allergic to shellfish. Another is lactose intolerant. Another has Celiac disease and can't eat gluten. And yet another is kosher. You're hosting a company lunch. What do you have to accommodate, and what should you accommodate?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Faith, fetus photos, fired: How Title VII grounded a Southwest termination
"This is what you supported during your Paid Leave with others at the Women's MARCH in DC… You truly are Despicable in so many ways."
That's one of several messages Charlene Carter, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, sent to her union president—this one accompanied by a graphic photo of an aborted fetus.
Southwest fired Carter for violating its Workplace Bullying and Hazing Policy and Social Media Policy. Carter sued, claiming religious discrimination—that she sent those messages because the union's support of "women’s rights" conflicted with her religious beliefs about abortion.For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 24, 2025
Holy hypocrisy: When "religious freedom" only protects one religion
"My Administration will not tolerate … unlawful conduct targeting Christians.…My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified."
That's the key takeaway from Trump's Executive Order on Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.
What does that look like in practice? According to Politico, the State Department has ordered employees "to report on any instances of coworkers displaying 'anti-Christian bias.'" The internal memo allows (but doesn't require) anonymous reporting and encourages submissions to be "as detailed as possible, including names, dates, [and] locations (e.g., post or domestic office where the incident occurred)."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Neurodivergence is not an excuse for racism
"He's on the spectrum" is not an excuse for racism.
I've seen more than one person attempt to justify Elon Musk's Nazi salute, or dismiss it, citing his Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder.
I call 🐂💩!
Bigotry, racism, and antisemitism are not symptoms of Asperger's or autism. They are, however, hallmarks of being a bigot, racist, or antisemite.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Must you accommodation an employee's religion not to attend DEI training? Believe it or not, it might depend on the training.
"Your respectful workplace training is against my religion; count me out."
When the employee learned that one module of the training would include LGBTQI+ issues, he explained to his employer, "This subject matter contradicts my sincerely held religious beliefs." He advised that he would excuse himself during that portion of the training.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, December 7, 2023
A lesson in how NOT to testify
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik: Ms. Magill at Penn, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?
UPenn President Liz Magill: If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes.
Stefanik: I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?
Magill: If it is directed, and severe, pervasive, it is harassment.
Stefanik: So the answer is yes.
Magill: It is a context dependent decision, Congresswoman.
Stefanik: It's a context dependent decision. That's your testimony today, calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context, that is not bullying or harassment. This is the easiest question to answer. Yes, Ms. Magill. So is your testimony that you will not answer yes? Yes or no?
Magill: If the speech becomes conduct. It can be harassment, yes.
Stefanik: Conduct meaning committing the act of genocide. The speech is not harassment. This is unacceptable. Ms. Magill, I'm gonna give you one more opportunity for the world to see your answer. Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's Code of Conduct when it comes to bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
Magill: It can be harassment.
Stefanik: The answer is yes.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, November 28, 2023
This case perfectly illustrates religious accommodations post-Groff
Elimelech Shmi Hebrew is a devout follower of the Hebrew Nation, a religion that requires its followers to keep their hair and beard long — a vow he has kept for over two decades.
Hebrew applies for a job as a corrections officer with DCJ. What wins out — Hebrew's religion or DCJ's grooming policy?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Employers need to be more vigilant than ever with anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim bias
Not all Jews are Zionists colonizers, and not all Muslims are Hamas terrorists. In fact, most aren't. Moreover, you can oppose the policies or actions of the Israeli government without being antisemitic and oppose Hamas without being anti-Muslim.
Yet, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict front and center into our lives, and as a result also into our workplaces. You can't stop employees from talking about current events, especially when those events are so horrific and so impactful on so many of us. Your employees will be talking about what's happening in Israel and Gaza. The key for employers is to make sure those discussions remain calm and respectful.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 28, 2023
Employees shouldn’t have to choose between their religion and their job
Is there any legitimate reason a concierge must be clean shaven as a condition of employment? That question is at the center of a new lawsuit the EEOC filed against Blackwell Security Services.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 7, 2023
Work and religion aren’t a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
I share the above as prologue to today's discussion, which focuses on a Title VII lawsuit the EEOC recently settled with Aurora Pro Services, a North Carolina residential home service and repair company, alleged to have required employees to participate in religious prayer sessions as a condition of employment.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Can an employer require that employees be of a specific faith? Believe it or not, it depends.
"Mature orthodox Christian faith as defined by the Apostles' Creed."
That is one of the qualifications listed in a job posting for a filmmaker position. The employer — the International Justice Mission — is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the mission of which is to combat human trafficking and slavery, violence against women and children, and police abuse of power worldwide.
Can IJM make a certain religious faith a job qualification or otherwise ask about religion as part of the hiring process?
It depends on whether "religion" is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for that employer.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, May 3, 2023
An employee may not have a right to receive a reasonable accommodation, but they at least have a right to conversation about it
The EEOC has sued Mercy Health St. Mary's for religious discrimination, claiming that it violated Title VII by rescinding a job offer to an applicant who, for religious reasons, refused to obtain a flu vaccine pursuant to hospital policy.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 10, 2023
7th Circuit decides the issue of religious rights vs. trans rights … and trans rights won
I really wanted to move on this week from writing about transgender rights. But then the 7th Circuit had to go and decide that a student's right to be called by his or her preferred gender trumps a teacher's religious accommodation request not to do so.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 16, 2023
6th Circuit confirms that private employers can do private employer things
Four employees of the J.M. Smucker Company sought religious exemptions from the company's Covid vaccine mandate. When the company refused, they sued, claiming that the mandate infringed on their First Amendment religious liberties.
The 6th Circuit easily concluded that the 1st Amendment does not apply to J.M. Smucker or limits its power to regulate its workplace as it is a private company, not a federal, state, or local government.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, December 19, 2022
Your religion isn’t a license to discriminate (but we may need to accommodate you anyway)
Pronouns confuse me. It's not that I want to misgender anyone. In fact, quite to the contrary, I try really hard to get people's pronouns correct when addressing them or speaking about them. To me, it's a simple matter of common decency. My efforts to get them correct, however, doesn't mean that they still don't confuse me. When I grew up, I learned that "they" refers to a group of people. Thus, when someone refers to someone else as "they," my brains says, "more than one." It's just difficult, but I still try to get it right.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Is God anti-union?
Thomas Ross, a security officer employed by Allied Universal in San Francisco, has filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC against Service Employees International Union officials and his employer for forcing him to join and financially support the union after he told both that his religious beliefs forbid union support.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Forced religion and work do not mix
I believe that everyone's relationship with God (whether you call that deity God, Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, something else, or nothing at all) is personal. I have no opinion on your spiritual relationship, as should you have none on mine. Thus, I get mad whenever someone tries to shove their religious beliefs down my throat. Not only do I not care, but I can guarantee that you will not change my mind. Proselytism is one small step removed from fanaticism, and rarely, if ever, has anything good come from religious fanaticism.
I share the above as prologue to today's discussion, which focuses on a Title VII lawsuit the EEOC recently filed against Aurora Pro Services, a North Carolina residential home service and repair company, alleged to have required employees to participate in religious prayer sessions as a condition of employment.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, June 13, 2022
LGBTQ+ rights vs. religious liberty
"It's an abomination to God. Rainbow is not meant to be displayed as a sign for sexual gender."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Accountability always starts at the top
How do you respond to an employee who states that the Covid-19 vaccine is a plot by "the Jews" to exterminate people? Does your answer change if the employee in question is the company's founder?
The scenario recently played out at Entrata, a Utah technology company. David Bateman, Entrata's founder, sent an email to multiple parties, including various Utah tech leaders. Bateman's email started with the subject line, "Genocide." It went downhill from there.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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