The Department of Labor published in today's Federal Register a release (full text) rescinding a Trump Administration rule that defined expansively the religious exemption in the agency's rules imposing anti-discrimination requirements on government contractors and subcontractors. According to DOL:
[T]he 2020 rule increased confusion and uncertainty about the religious exemption, largely because it departed from and questioned longstanding Title VII precedents.....
Commenters who supported rescission overwhelmingly agreed that the 2020 preamble raised a serious risk that the rule would be implemented to permit contractors to discriminate against individuals based on protected classes other than a preference for persons of a particular religion.....
OFCCP emphasizes that, absent strong evidence of insincerity, OFCCP would accept a religious organization’s own assertions regarding doctrinal questions. However, OFCCP believes it is important to clarify that it is not appropriate to construe the Executive Order 11246 religious exemption to permit a qualifying religious organization to discriminate against employees on the basis of any protected characteristics other than religion.
Bloomberg Law reports on the rule change, (See prior related posting.)
