In a stunning result announced Thursday, even the far-left trio on the U.S. Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Jackson, joined with the conservative majority in affirming the religious rights of a postal worker who ended up resigning because he was being forced to work on Sundays, in violation of his faith.
The case involved Gerald Groff, who worked in a position that did not involve any duties for him on Sundays.
However, his employer then accepted a contract to deliver for Amazon that did require Sunday work, so Groff transferred to a location that still remained closed on Sundays.
Then that location took on Sunday work and his bosses insisted he take a rotation of working on Sundays, in violation of his faith. He ended up resigning but sued for the violation of his religious rights.
The unanimous decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, found that, "Title VII requires that an employer 'reasonably accommodate' an employee's practice of religion, not merely that it assess the reasonableness of a particular possible accommodation or accommodations.
"Faced with an accommodation request like Groff's, an employer must do more that conclude that forcing other employees to work overtime would constitute an undue hardship. Consideration of other options would also be necessary."
It then returned the case to the lower courts to apply its ruling to the specifics of the case.
WND had reported that the problem was created when the United States Postal Service started delivering packages for Amazon, which required Sunday deliveries.
"No American should be forced to choose between their religion and their job," Stephanie Taub, a senior counsel at First Liberty, explained as the court was considering the dispute.
First Liberty explained Groff started with the USPS in 2012 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as a mail carrier. The government operation, however, soon started delivering packages on Sundays for Amazon.
Groff asked for a religious accommodation to observe Sunday Sabbath. The postmaster initially granted his request, allowing him to work additional shifts on other days of the week instead.
But then officials changed up their requirements, insisting that Groff work on Sundays, in violation of his conscience.
Groff sued, but the district court and 3rd Circuit sided with the government, based on an old case, TWA vs. Hardison.
WND is now on Trump's Truth Social! Follow us @WNDNews
The Supreme Court ruling described Groff as an evangelical Christian who believes Sunday should be devoted to worship and rest.
The high court used the dispute to re-interpret the precedent of a "de minimis" impact on an employer that provides an accommodation to an employee's religious needs.
That standard should have been "undue hardship," the ruling said.
"The Third Circuit found the de minimis cost standard met here, concluding that exempting Groff from Sunday work had 'imposed on his coworkers, disrupted the workplace and workflow, and diminished employee morale,'" the ruling said.
However, "Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business."
The old precedent, from the 50-year-old Hardison case decision, pointed out that the federal regulations require employers to "make reasonable accommodations to the religious needs of employees" short of that " undue hardship" level.
Congress later imposed a requirement that employers accommodate religious requests unless the employer is "unable" to do so "without undue hardship."
The court said, "The statutory term, 'hardship,' refers to, at a minimum, 'something hard to bear' and suggests something more severe than a mere burden. If Title VII said only that an employer need not be made to suffer a 'hardship,' an employer could not escape liability simply by showing that an accommodation would impose some sort of additional costs. Adding the modifier 'undue' means that the requisite burden or adversity must rise to an 'excessive' or 'unjustifiable' level.
"Understood in this way, 'undue hardship' means something very different from a burden that is merely more than de minimis, i.e., 'very small or trifling.'"
"This is a landmark victory, not only for Gerald, but for every American," said Kelly Shackelford, president for First Liberty. “The court’s decision today restores religious freedom to every American in the workplace. This decision will positively help millions and millions of Americans - those who work now and their children and grandchildren.”
Groff said, "I am grateful to have had my case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and that they have decided to uphold religious liberty. I hope this decision allows others to be able to maintain their convictions without living in fear of losing their jobs because of what they believe.”
IMPORTANT NOTE: It's hard to believe it's really happening, but it is. Male athletes pretend to be females, dominate their sports, and are thereby rapidly destroying women’s competitive sports worldwide. Convicted male criminals suddenly claim to be transgender so they can be confined in a women’s prison and sexually abuse the female inmates there. Men claiming to be female likewise invade women’s locker rooms, bathrooms, schools, dormitories, sororities, shelters, spas and social organizations – and in the process steal women’s scholarships, advancement, honors and myriad other opportunities.
Meanwhile, transgender groomers and recruiters in schools and on social media platforms like TikTok are continually feeding and expanding the current “mass hysteria” craze that has already led countless teen girls to take testosterone and undergo double mastectomies in a pathetic effort to become boys. No wonder the CDC reports 3 in 5 teen girls say they feel “persistently sad or hopeless” and almost 1 in 3 say they have seriously considered committing suicide.
All of this on top of the radical left’s renewed obsession with killing women’s unborn babies via abortion.
The “woke” left’s maniacal attack on women and girls, virtually unreported by the rest of the media, is the entire focus of the sensational June issue of WND’s critically acclaimed WHISTLEBLOWER magazine, titled “THE LEFT’S TOTAL WAR ON WOMEN.” WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
The post Mailman who lost job for not working on Sundays sees huge Supreme Court victory appeared first on WND.
