Where’s the Beef? Employer Defeats EEOC’s Religious Discrimination Pattern Or Practice Case By Establishing Undue Hardship Defense

In both disability and religious discrimination cases employers, especially larger ones, are often taken to task by the EEOC for arguing that an undue hardship exists that prevents them from accommodating an employee’s disability or sincerely held religious belief. While in some cases a simple accommodation (e.g., ergonomic chair) may do the trick, in most cases – especially those that form the basis of a federal lawsuit – the accommodation is much more onerous and requires an employer to expend significant resources and/or severely restructure a job. Although this burden is high, a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC, 8:10-CV-318 (D. Neb.  Oct. 11, 2013), in dismissing a pattern or practice lawsuit brought by the EEOC, demonstrates that the undue hardship defense is alive and well!

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