KARAMAH welcomes the Supreme Court of the United States’ announcement that it has granted certiorari in the case: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed suit on behalf of Samantha Elauf and alleged that Elauf was not hired at the store in Tulsa, Oklahoma because her headscarf (which she wore to the interview) violated Abercrombie’s “look policy.”
While the trial court found for the EEOC, the appellate court reversed, holding that Abercrombie did not know that Elauf needed a religious accommodation. The court held that Ms. Elauf needed to explicitly ask the store for a religious accommodation to wear the headscarf.
In August of 2014, KARAMAH joined others in an amicus brief filed on behalf of the Petitioner EEOC. Filed by the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, it examined the question: “whether an employer can be liable under Title VII for refusing to hire an applicant or discharging an employee, based on a religious observance and practice only if the employer has actual knowledge that a religious accommodation was required and the employer’s actual knowledge resulted from direct, explicit notice from the application or employee.” A copy of that brief can be found here.
In another amicus brief that KARAMAH joined, the brief stated that, “the Tenth Circuit’s ‘inflexibility’ holding and heightened scienter requirements all contravene the plain language of the Title VII religious accommodation provision, even as they substantially undermine
Congress’s purpose of ensuring that employees and job applicants are not disadvantaged unnecessarily when they choose to adhere to their religious beliefs. The decision…should be reversed.” This brief can be found here.
The amicus brief stressed that the religious accommodation issues raised in this case were of significant importance to warrant the Court’s attention.
KARAMAH has been a long-time advocate for religious freedom as a fundamental, Constitutional right for all Americans. We are concerned that this case, like others, advances discrimination against people who choose to practice their faith. In order to truly stand for justice, we must uphold the first amendment and insist that our courts and our people value the freedoms it sets forth. To read more about KARAMAH’s work to this end, please visit our website.
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AR