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<i>Abercrombie</i> Decision Raises the Bar for Accommodating Employees of Faith

BY Veena Iyer
August 02, 2015

In early June, the Supreme Court issued its decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie, a landmark case interpreting Title VII's prohibition on religious discrimination and the mandate for religious accommodations. The case raised the question of whether an employer must have actual knowledge of the religious nature of an employee's practice to be found liable for discrimination under Title VII for denying employment based on that practice. The short answer is no.

The Case

In an article published here in March 2015 (http://bit.ly/1KeaYIP), I summarized the facts of the case in detail, so I offer only a truncated version here. The plaintiff, Samantha Elauf, wore a headscarf to an interview at Abercrombie Kids. She wore the headscarf for religious purposes, but did not say so during the interview. The interviewer gave the plaintiff a score that would have ordinarily led to hire, but was unsure whether the headscarf conflicted with Abercrombie's dress code, known as the “Look Policy.” At her deposition, the interviewer stated that she spoke to a district manager and explained that she believed the plaintiff wore the headscarf because of her religious beliefs. The district manager stated that the headscarf, like all head coverings, would violate the Look Policy, and directed the interviewer not to hire Elauf.

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