Supreme Court Delivers Unanimous Landmark

Victory for Postal Carrier

Decision means fewer religious employees will have to choose between their faith and their job.

In a unanimous decision announced on Thursday, June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a victory to former postal carrier Gerald Groff after Groff lost his job for observing the Sunday Sabbath. The decision strengthens legal protections for employees seeking religious accommodations, such as schedule changes to observe holy days, by requiring employers to provide accommodations unless doing so would result in substantial and burdensome costs in light of the size of the employer.

In its holding, the Supreme Court held that lower courts have been getting it wrong for the past 50 years in interpreting a past precedent to impose only a minimal burden on employers, although stopping short of outright reversing the prior precedent, TWA v. Hardison

The decision means more employers will be required to take seriously their employees’ religious accommodation requests. Employees of faith often seek religious accommodations to honor their holy days, to take prayer breaks during the day, to dress according to their religious beliefs, or to otherwise not be forced to violate their religious beliefs on the job.

Mr. Groff was represented, in part, by Alan Reinach, executive director of the Church State Counsel. “The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision

In response to the decision, Gerald 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.”

The Church State Council is the oldest public policy organization in the western United States devoted to religious freedom and the separation of church and state. It is a Seventh-day Adventist organization, the public affairs and religious liberty ministry of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The Council’s legal services ministry focuses on serving those who need religious accommodation in the workplace or suffer discrimination.

Learn more about the work of the Church State Council and the implications of the Groff case at https://www.churchstate.org.