The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear the case of an evangelical Christian former mail carrier from Pennsylvania who claims that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) discriminated against him due to his religion, according to Reuters.
Gerald Groff was reprimanded for refusing to deliver packages on Sundays, which he observes as the Sabbath.
Lower courts had previously dismissed Groff’s claim that USPS violated federal anti-discrimination law by not exempting him from working on Sundays, stating that his demands put too much burden on his co-workers and employer.
This case will give the court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, another chance to support a plaintiff who has made a claim of anti-religion discrimination.
The case is expected to be argued in the coming months and decided by the end of June.
Groff, who worked as a “rural carrier associate” in Holtwood, Pennsylvania, was responsible for filling in for absent career carriers as needed, according to Reuters.
He repeatedly failed to show up for Sunday shifts, which were part of USPS’ contract to deliver Amazon.com packages.
Postal officials attempted to accommodate Groff by trying to facilitate Sunday shift swaps, but this was not always successful.
His absence caused resentment among other carriers who had to cover his shifts and ultimately led one to leave the Holtwood station and another to quit USPS altogether, according to court papers.
Groff received several disciplinary letters for his attendance and resigned in 2019.
This case will test the allowances that companies must make for employees for religious reasons to comply with federal anti-discrimination law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
As stated in the law, employers must reasonably accommodate a worker’s religious observance or practices unless it causes the business “undue hardship,” which the Supreme Court in a 1977 case called Trans World Airlines v. Hardison determined to be anything that imposes more than a minor, or “de minimis,” cost.
Groff filed a lawsuit against USPS in 2019.
The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year dismissed the case, stating that exempting Groff caused “undue hardship” because it put a strain on his co-workers and disrupted workflow.
Groff’s legal team, which includes First Liberty Institute, a conservative religious rights legal organization, asked the Supreme Court to take up the case and revisit the 1977 ruling, which they claim “virtually always side with employers whenever an accommodation would impose any burden.”
