BREAKING: Supreme Court to Decide Whether Postal Service Can Punish Sabbath-Observing Letter Carrier

The Supreme Court added eight new cases to its docket this afternoon. One of them, Groff v. DeJoy, raises issues of religious liberty and workplace accommodation. Gerald Groff claims that the U.S. Postal Service discriminated against him on the basis of his faith under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by punishing him for refusing to work Sunday shifts due to Sabbath observance. Groff had initially tried and failed to simply cover all his shifts by swapping with fellow employees, which effectively forced the issue of whether he could demand as an accommodation that he be exempted from being assigned to work Sundays. A divided panel of the Third Circuit thought that was too much to ask and imposed “undue hardship” on the employer because it would shift the burden to his co-workers. Judge Thomas Hardiman dissented:

A burden on coworkers isn’t the same thing as a burden on the employer’s business. . . . Neither Supreme Court nor Third Circuit precedent establish a derivative rule that equates undue hardship on business with an impact—no matter how small—on coworkers. . . . Title VII requires USPS to show how Groff’s accommodation would harm its business, not merely how it would impact Groff’s coworkers. . . . The Majority renders any burden on employees sufficient to establish undue hardship, effectively subjecting Title VII religious accommodation to a heckler’s veto by disgruntled employees.

I wrote up the decision here. Groff is represented by First Liberty Institute, Baker Botts LLP, the Church State Council, and the Independence Law Center. His legal team issued a press release on the grant:

“It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion,” said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel for First Liberty. “It’s time for the Supreme Court to reconsider a decades old case that favors corporations and the government over the religious rights of employees.” “Observing the Sabbath day is critical to many faiths—a day ordained by God.  No one should be forced to violate the Sabbath to hold a job,” added Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center. Aaron Streett of Baker Botts said, “We are simply asking the Supreme Court to apply the law as written and require employers to grant meaningful religious accommodations to people of faith.” Lead trial counsel Alan Reinach of the Church State Council observed: “Workers have suffered too long with the Supreme Court’s interpretation that disrespects the rights of those with sincere faith commitments to a workplace accommodation. It’s long past time for the Supreme Court to protect workers from religious discrimination.”