We have
previously discussed how to protect against religious
discrimination claims and best practices when addressing requests
for religious accommodations. A recent decision from the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (covering Oklahoma, Kansas,
New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah) reminds employers that the
offered religious accommodation truly has to be
"reasonable," and provides guidance for what
"reasonable" may mean on a case-by-case basis.
The employer in this case maintained a factory that operated
twenty-four hours a day. It divided the approximately 100 employees
into four designated groups, two day-shift groups and two
night-shift groups. Each group worked a shift schedule of two to
three twelve-hour shifts followed by two to three days off, on a
continuous or rotating basis. The plaintiff-employees worked in one
of the day-shift groups, and informed the employer that, due to
their religious observance of the Sabbath, they could not work
