We blogged in the past about an employee’s lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch for religious discrimination arising from Abercrombie’s alleged refusal to hire the employee because it did not want to accommodate her religious dress requirements (the employee wore a head scarf). The narrow issue before the Supreme Court was whether an employer can be liable for failing to accommodate a religious practice if the employer did not have actual knowledge of the employee’s need for accommodation. The Supreme Court held that actual knowledge was not required for disparate-treatment liability under Title VII. The Court stated: “[t]he rule for disparate-treatment claims based on a failure to accommodate a religious practice is straightforward: An employer may not make an applicant’s religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions.” http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-86_p86b.pdf
We will post later with a detailed analysis of the Court’s ruling.
