In this case, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission uncharacteristically weighed in on the side of the employer. The EEOC’s brief asserted that an employer does not violate Title VII by disciplining an employee for violating a religiously neutral workplace policy where the employee has not identified a conflict between the employee’s religious beliefs and a work requirement.
The EEOC also argued that even if the employee’s actions were construed as a request for leniency for religious expression that violates a company’s anti-harassment policy, excusing an employee from the company’s anti-harassment policy would cause undue hardship under Title VII because it would communicate to other employees that it is permissible to violate anti-harassment rules and expose the employer to coworker harassment claims.