Whether compliance with state laws directly contrary to Title VII's requirement to provide a reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs may serve as an undue hardship justifying an employer's noncompliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and whether a state law that requires employers to deny without any consideration all requests by employees for a religious accommodation is preempted by Title VII and the Supremacy Clause

“Reliance on state statutes to excuse non compliance with federal law is simply unacceptable under the Supremacy Clause.” Barber ex rel. Barber v. Colorado Dep’t of Revenue , 562 F.3d 1222, 1233 (10th Cir. 2009) . As Justice Gorsuch previously noted, “a state law at odds with a valid Act of Congress is no law at all. Accordingly, the demands of the federal [antidiscrimination law] do not yield to state laws that discriminate against the [protected class]; it works the other way around .” Id. at 1234 (Gorsuch, J., concurring) (emphasis added). Simply put, “the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution requires a different order of priority. A discriminatory state law is not a defense to liability under federal law; it is a source of liability under federal law.” Id. (quoting Quinones v. City of Evanston , 58 F.3d 275, 277 (7th Cir. 1995) ). The Second Circuit ’s decision below impermissibly flipped the Supremacy Clause on its head , holding that employers could be excused from compliance with Title VII when providing the accommodation for religious beliefs required under Title VII would purportedly violate state law . (App. 11a.) That can’t be right . The questions presented are: (1) Whether compliance with state laws directly contrary to Title VII’s requirement to provide a reasonable accommodation for religious beliefs may serve as an undue hardship justifying an employer’s noncompliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . ii (2) Whether a state law that requires employers to deny without any consideration all requests by employees for a religious accommodation , contrary to Title VII’s religious nondiscrimination provision , is preempted by Title VII and the Supremacy Clause.