Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—Office of Federal Operations decisions provide clarification on reasonable accommodation, undue hardship, (Aug 14, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The decisions emphasize the burden of the employer of demonstrating undue hardship in denying reasonable accommodations.

Three Office of Federal Operations appellate decisions shared by the EEOC clarify the statutory obligations of the federal government under federal anti-discrimination laws and court precedent in regard to the provision of reasonable accommodations. The decisions involve accommodations granted based on religious beliefs and on pregnancy.

Religious beliefs. In one decision, Augustine V. v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, the EEOC found the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) liable for failing to accommodate a Muslim physician’s practice of attending weekly prayer service. In a second case, Andy B. v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the EEOC found the Federal Reserve Board liable for failing to accommodate the request of a Christian police officer’s request for exemption from the government agency’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements. The EEOC noted that these decisions address how federal employers must analyze undue hardship according to the Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. Dejoy, in which the Court explained that undue hardship is shown only when a burden is substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business. The EEOC’s decisions emphasize that the burden is on the employer to demonstrate that an accommodation would impose an undue hardship.

Pregnancy. In the third case, Kasie L. v. U.S. Postal Service, which arose before the effective date of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) in 2023, the EEOC found the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) liable for requiring a new mother to use the employer bathroom for her lactation needs, despite the availability of other clean, private spaces. Under the PWFA, covered employers, including the federal government, must provide reasonable accommodations to workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The EEOC concluded that USPS’s decision to exclude its employee from available, clean, and private spaces for lactation constituted unlawful discrimination.

“The EEOC is accelerating progress to bring efficiency and effectiveness to the federal sector by promptly resolving hearings and appeals with straightforward and legally sound decisions grounded in precedent from the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts,” said EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. “These federal sector appellate decisions highlight the EEOC’s ongoing work of rooting out discrimination in the federal workforce.”

News: AgencyNews Discrimination ReligiousDiscrimination PregnancyDiscrimination PublicEmployees