Today the US Supreme Court handed down two decisions with sweeping affects on HR and our organizations;
Decision 1: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who was not hired at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wore a religious head covering. The court ruled 8-1 that the company failed to accommodate a job applicant’s religious needs when she was not hired on the basis that her hijab violated company dress policy.
Decision 2: The Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of a Pennsylvania man who posted several violent messages on Facebook and was convicted under a federal threat statute. The Court held that the standard used to convict him was too low.The Court said that it wasn’t enough to convict him based solely on how a reasonable person would regard his communications as a threat. The Court left open what standard should be used.”Our holding makes clear that negligence is not sufficient to support a conviction,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts.