The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled in favor of Christian postal worker Gerald Groff of Pennsylvania in a landmark religious liberty case concerning workplace accommodations for employees’ faith. Groff, a rural mail carrier, had asked the court to decide whether the U.S. Postal Service could require him to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays, which he observes as the Sabbath. His lawyer, Aaron Streett, argued that a 1977 precedent—Trans World Airlines v. Hardison—set the wrong standard for when employers must accommodate religious practices, allowing companies to deny accommodations for anything above a minimal cost.
In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court rejected the Hardison ruling, which permitted employers to refuse religious accommodations if they imposed more than a “de minimis” cost. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious observances unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship.” Streett argued that courts had misapplied Hardison and that the proper standard should reflect the plain language of Title VII, requiring employers to show significant difficulty or expense before denying an accommodation. Postal worker unions, however, warned that granting exceptions could adversely affect co-workers’ schedules, emphasizing that weekends are shared days off for family and community life.
The case drew attention from minority religious groups, including Muslims, Jews, and Hindus, who argued that the Hardison standard had unfairly burdened devout employees. The Muslim Public Affairs Council stated that the precedent forced workers to choose between faith and livelihood. Experts, like James Phillips of Chapman University, noted the unusual potential for broad agreement across ideological lines. Groff, employed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, had been required to substitute for absent carriers, including Sundays, particularly after the Postal Service contracted with Amazon in 2013 to deliver packages on weekends. The Supreme Court’s decision marks a significant shift in religious accommodation law, raising the bar for employers seeking to deny faith-based requests and strengthening protections for workers observing religious practices.
