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  • April 30, 2018

Workplace Religious Accommodations and Islamic Prayer

Few issues are more sensitive for employers than accommodating employees’ religious practices and observances. In recent years, Muslim employees and their employers have struggled with how to handle the religious requirement to perform obligatory prayers while at work. Muslims are required by their faith to observe five daily prayers during certain intervals. The performance of the prayer requires preparation in the form of a ritual cleansing, followed by the actual prayer which consists of a series of standing, bowing, and prostrating actions accompanied by recitation of chapters from the Quran. The five daily prayers occur at dawn, mid-day, mid-afternoon, sunset,…

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  • January 4, 2018

Tolerance is Most Meaningful When it’s Mutual- Supreme Court Arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop

The developing law concerning religious freedom and same sex marriage was argued before the United States Supreme Court on December 5, 2017 in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.  The case concerns Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker and the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, which he opened in 1993.  In 2012, David Mullins and Charlie Craig, two gay men intending to get married, came into his bakery and asked him to design a cake for their wedding.  Mr. Phillips declined, based on his Christian faith and his religious conviction that marriage was between a man and…

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  • December 16, 2016

Church’s “Public Accommodation” and Gender Identity

The question of churches and gender identity have again come to the forefront of the news. The recent events in North Carolina and the recent joint guidance provided by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice have raised issues of religious freedom and civil rights. Churches have expressed questions on (i) whether church buildings and services are required to comply with the recent joint guidance provided by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, (ii) whether churches are exempt from this joint guidance and/or state law, and (iii) if compliance is mandated, what liability do churches face in failing to…

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  • November 30, 2016

Employee Benefit Plans and the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program

The Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”), sponsored by the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor, provides relief from civil liability and an exemption from excise taxes under the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”). VFCP is designed to encourage self-correction of certain violations and fiduciary breaches of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. VFCP covers many different transactions. One of the most commonly violated transactions that it covers is delinquent contributions. Plan sponsors have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that participant contributions are deposited in a plan’s trust on a timely basis. Participant contributions are defined as…

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  • April 15, 2014

Religious Freedom Before the Supreme Court: The Hobby Lobby Argument

The most intensely debated field of law right now is the right of freedom of religion in the business community.  The debates have been in the forefront of the news, as the Hobby Lobby case came before the United States Supreme Court. On March 25, 2014, the Supreme Court heard the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., putting the Affordable Care Act back at the Court for another constitutional challenge.  The case presented “an issue of first impression,” an issue on which all sides agree that there is no controlling precedent: Can a private, for profit business assert…

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  • January 7, 2014

Are Non-Religious Corporations Protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?

Francis A. Gilardi and his brother Philip Gilardi are co-owners of Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics, closely-held ‘S Corporations.’ Their businesses employ about 400 employees, and they have traditionally offered a self-insured health plan through a third-party administrator. As devout Catholics, the Gilardis oppose and wish to exclude coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion under their health insurance policies. The Affordable Care Act (informally known as “Obamacare”) directs all group health plans to provide “preventive care.” It has been determined that preventive care includes FDA approved “contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive…

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