Cynthia Braccia, et al. v. Northwell Health Systems

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate their religious employees if they can do so without undue hardship. 42 U.S.C. §2000e(j). Petitioners here sued their employer after they unsuccessfully sought religious accommodations to its vaccine mandate. But the Second Circuit held that, because New York would punish any accommodation otherwise required by federal law, such punishment would be a per se undue hardship on the employer, precluding an otherwise nonburdensome accommodation. But the Supremacy Clause preempts state laws that frustrate federal law. U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2; Kansas v. Garcia, 589 U.S. 191, 202 (2020). State law that conflicts with federal law thus is not “a defense to liability under federal law.” Barber ex rel. Barber v. Colorado Dep’t of Revenue, 562 F.3d 1222, 1233 (10th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). The questions presented are:

1. Whether an employer faces a per se Title VII undue hardship if granting an otherwise federally required religious accommodation would conflict with state law purporting to punish such accommodation.

2. Whether, if so, Title VII preempts state laws that purport to prohibit employers from granting federally required religious accommodations.