Compliance Stuff

On March 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched a  new website  for its “Center for Faith.” According to the DOL, the website “contains resources for Americans who may have faced religious discrimination in the workplace , as well as information for faith organizations on potential grant opportunities and retirement plans.” The Trump administration has highlighted curbing religious bias in the workplace as one of its priorities. 0:00 3:41 Quick Hits The DOL’s new website for the Center for Faith includes resources on preventing workplace religious discrimination and how faith organizations can access federal grants. The website is part of the Trump administration’s focus on addressing religious bias in the workplace. The DOL established the Center for Faith in response to an  executive order  in 2025. The Center for Faith engages with faith-based organizations to defend religious liberties, combat religious bias, and maximize their participation in gra...

The First Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in  DeAngelis v. Hasbro, Inc. , is a reminder to employers that religious discrimination claims stemming from COVID-19 vaccination policies are not yet a thing of the past . Those cases continue to offer crucial insights for employers as they navigate religious accommodation requests in other contexts. 0:00 4:56 Quick Hits On January 29, 2026, the First Circuit reversed the dismissal of plaintiffs’ religious discrimination and retaliation claims arising from their employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. In doing so, the First Circuit made clear that “my-body-is-my-temple arguments rooted in a plaintiff’s religious beliefs are sufficient to plead the existence of a bona fide religious belief.” Additionally, although the employees resigned their employment, the court concluded that allegations regarding the investigation of one plaintiff’s alleged failure to wear a mask at an employer-sponsored event and another plaintiff’s removal ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is poised to elevate its focus on religious discrimination in the workplace and employers should be alert. With its newly restored quorum allowing Acting Chair Andrea Lucas to move forward with more aggressive enforcement, the agency is expected to pursue a broader litigation agenda emphasizing religious accommodation rights under Title VII. In 2025 alone, the EEOC filed 11 religious discrimination suits, the highest in nearly a decade . Lucas credited the agency’s “tremendous wins” in defending religious liberty and signaled that this momentum will continue. What This Means for Employers The EEOC’s direction marks a clear shift towards faith-based accommodation enforcement following the Supreme Court’s decision in  Groff v. DeJoy,  600 U.S. 447 (2023). Under  Groff,  employers must grant religious accommodations unless doing so would cause substantial increased costs or undue hardship. This standard sets a much...

At a Glance The EEOC has regained a quorum, enabling it to make new policy, revisit old policies and guidance, and take other significant actions. A reconstituted EEOC is expected to turn its attention to “illegal” DEI, religious discrimination, PWFA regulations, harassment guidance, and LGBTQ employees, among other areas. On October 7, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Brittany Panuccio to be a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) . When she takes her seat, absent something unusual happening, she will restore the agency’s quorum. Now that the agency is fully empowered, what might employers expect from the agency going forward? 1 By way of background, since late January, the Commission has lacked a quorum. On Inauguration Day, there were four sitting commissioners—three Democratic appointees, and one Republican (Commissioner Andrea Lucas) who was immediately designated acting chair. In late January, however, the White House took the unprec...