Employers don't like uncertainty under the best of circumstances, and that is particularly true when it runs the risk of leading to a lawsuit. Yet that is precisely what firms may face as a result of last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores Inc.

In its 8-1 ruling, the high court held that even if an employee or applicant doesn't mention that he or she needs religious accommodation, the firm may be held liable if it is subsequently determined that this need was later a factor in a negative employment decision.

The origins of the case occurred in mid-2008 when then-17-year-old Samantha Elauf, a practicing Muslim who wears a hijab, was rejected for a job as sales floor employee with New Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch. The chain decided not to offer Ms. Elauf the job after internal discussion about her head scarf, even though she had never brought up the subject of religious accommodation.

The Supreme Court ruled an employer cannot make an applicant's religious practice, “confirmed or otherwise,” a factor in employment decisions. In other words, the court said the employer should not have used Ms. Elauf's religious observance as a factor in its hiring decision, as was alleged, even if it was not discussed during the interview.

This creates a problem for employers. In many cases, workers will speak up themselves and announce they need some sort of religious accommodation. And in many others, it will be obvious some sort of accommodation may be needed.

But that leaves at least a few instances where it may not be so obvious, and a little extra sensory perception would come in handy. Questions may naturally arise, for instance, if an Orthodox Jewish woman, who needs to leave work early on Friday and cannot work on Saturday because of her observance of the Sabbath, appears modestly dressed for a job interview in mid-August in New York with a long skirt and sleeves. But what if that job interview is in December? No hiring manager can be blamed for assuming she just wanted to keep warm, which raises at the least the possibility of a subsequent lawsuit if she doesn't get the job.

Perhaps the safest course of action is to have hiring managers just question everybody if they need accommodation. Because you never know, and as the saying goes, “It never hurts to ask.”