On Demand
Audio
It’s Against My Religion: Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
Produced on June 11, 2020
Course Information
Course Description
This program, taught by Valerie Ferrier, Partner, head of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at Martin Clearwater & Bell, LLP, provides an overview of federal law and representative cases discussing employers’ obligations when an employee’s religious belief or practice conflicts with a workplace rule or business necessity.
The course provides examples and practical advice on how to recognize an employee’s possible need for an accommodation, what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation”, and how to respond in a way that keeps the employer on the right side of the law. Attorneys can expect to learn how to advise clients who are presented with a potential conflict, from both a legal and a practical standpoint.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the federal legislation underlying religious accommodation claims
- Analyze recent cases applying religious accommodation standards
- Identify some examples of reasonable accommodations for religious exercise
- Advise clients on their responsibilities under the law
Credit Information
Faculty
Ms. Ferrier is an experienced trial attorney, offering advice and counseling to clients to mitigate and manage risk regarding compliance issues, in addition to providing handbook and policy updates, and management and employee training. Her practice includes the defense of wage and hour and misclassification claims, both single-plaintiff and class and collective actions, under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law.
Her experience includes defending discrimination claims, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws.
Ms. Ferrier earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in 2007 and her B.A. from Simon’s Rock College of Bard. She is admitted to practice in New York, Virginia, and New York federal courts.
Reviews
Very informative.
Good course for those with employment law oversight.
Very helpful information
Very informative.
Excellent!
Interesting presentation. Good analysis of the law and great description of cases to further define it.
Learned a lot. Nice mix of relevant case law and practical advice
Very well done, logically presented and the examples were really good and clear.
Excellent presentation
Really good presenter
really great clear job
Not sure if 1 or 4 is the highest, but she did an outstanding job!
Interesting, the standard for determining a religion much less rigorous than I thought.
The content and presentation were great. What a sparkling personality!
Interesting examples, knowledgeable speaker, I feel I was left with very good overview of this area.
Great program! Very informative!
Good presentation.
Nice course
I can see why this course is top rated! Excellent presentation. Thank you.
Case discussions were very helpful. Thanks!
Really interesting. I enjoyed it!
Excellent presentation.
Very well done
Really appreciate the take home point not to fight on the issue of religious adherence. From a practitioners standpoint that comes from hard yards first won and then regretted. My first litigation depositions were similar. Absolutely fantastic!
great material and presentation was done very well
This presenter is very engaging! She held my attention and made the lecture easy to listen to.
Really informative, really interesting, really thorough. Despite being a little long, it actually went by very quickly.
interesting topic
Excellent
topical
Even though I don't practice employment law, I benefitted from this excellent, informative CLE.
Very good presentation.
Excellent instructor
She was VERY competent. Really knew her stuff!
Great presenter; excellent presentation. Thanks!
VERY RELEVANT.
Enjoyed presentation, very interesting case law fact scenarios.
Very good presentation balancing depth and breadth of the issues and identifying best practices.
Presenter was articulate and prepared.
Excellent case examples. Presenter very knowledgable.
very interesting examples.
Very interesting presentation
Very informative and well presented
Excellent. Great examples provided. Nice graphics on slides