Oral arguments in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. showed that the U.S. Supreme Court will likely support a Muslim job seeker who was rejected for interviewing in a headscarf, or hijab.
This expert analysis by TELG managing principal R. Scott Oswald was published by Law360 on February 25, 2015. The full article is available at Law360. (Site requires paid subscription.)
Excerpted from:
The U.S. Supreme Court is virtually certain to reverse the Tenth Circuit’s 2013 holding that an employer can’t be liable for failing to hire a job applicant based on religious practice unless the applicant has preemptively asked for an accommodation.
How can we be sure of this outcome? For starters, on Feb. 25, 2015, in oral arguments for U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores Inc., not even the employer’s attorney cared to defend the lower court’s position — a position that Justice Stephen Breyer caustically characterized as “unless you receive direct, explicit notice [of a need for accommodation], you’re home free to do what you want.”
