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GroPro 20/20 Big Ideas for Law Firm & Accounting Firm CMO Sales & Marketing Pros– June 13 NYC 1. SCOTUS Rules for Christian Colorado Baker
Our top story: On narrow grounds, the Supreme Court of the United States has found in favor of a baker in Colorado who refused an order for a custom wedding cake from a gay couple because of his religious beliefs. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found that the baker had engaged in unlawful discrimination after he refused to serve a same-sex couple. The high court found that comments by one member of the Colorado Commission showed religious animus that violated the First Amendment’s free exercise clause. The Supreme Court declined to address the delicate balance between a business’s First Amendment rights and statutory protections under anti-discrimination laws, but the issue is likely to be back in court in the near future. Janene Marasciullo has more: “The masterpiece cake case does not address employment directly. It addressed . . . it was resolved on First Amendment grounds, and the First Amendment prohibits the state from interfering with one’s free exercise of religion, and that was the basis for the decision. The First Amendment does not necessarily apply to private employers; however, the way the court decided the case, it reiterated and placed a very strong emphasis on the need to treat claims of religion with neutrality and respect. And employers should take away from this that if they have a situation where an employee is requesting a religious accommodation for some reason, that those need to be treated with respect and neutrally, so that they’re not favoring one religion over another because that could lead to a claim of discrimination if that action was coupled with an adverse employment action.” 2. California Court Addresses Waiting-Time Penalties
The California Court of Appeal says waiting-time penalties apply regardless of whether there was malicious intent. Labor Code Section 203 states that an employer that “willfully fails to pay” any wages after an employee is terminated or quits is responsible for continuous wages until payment is made. […]