Religious Minorities Look to Benefit From New Accommodation Test

Workers of minority faiths stand to gain from the US Supreme Court’s review of a decades-old precedent that makes it relatively easy for employers to deny religious accommodation requests under federal anti-bias law.

A worker-friendly standard appears to be on the horizon as the justices recently agreed to rethink the court’s 1977 Trans World Airlines Inc. v. Hardison decision, several employment attorneys speculate. Hardison allows employers to refuse a religious accommodation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act if the request would impose a minimal, undue burden or cost on the business.

The case involves a Christian ...