Supreme Court Sides with Christian USPS Employee

Hey Compliance Warriors!

The Supreme Court has ruled that employers must now meet a much higher burden to deny a request for religious accommodation. The court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which was unanimous, says that employers can no longer simply argue that an accommodation would create a “de minimis” or trivial hardship. Instead, they must show that the accommodation would impose a “substantial” difficulty or cost.

The case involved Gerald Groff, a part-time U.S. Postal Service driver who observes the Sabbath on Sundays. When Amazon began contracting with the Postal Service to deliver packages on Sundays, Groff requested a religious accommodation to not work on Sundays. His supervisor initially agreed and Groff was able to swap shifts with other drivers who were willing to work on Sundays.

However, Groff’s co-workers began to resent having to work every Sunday, and they eventually refused to swap shifts with him. After 20 Sunday shifts went unfilled, the Postal Service told Groff that it could no longer accommodate his request. Groff sued the Postal Service for religious discrimination, and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court.

In its decision, the Supreme Court held that the “de minimis” standard for religious accommodations was no longer sufficient. The court found that the “substantial difficulty or cost” standard was more consistent with the text of Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of religion.

The court’s decision is a significant victory for religious employees. It means that employers will now have to make a much more rigorous showing before they can deny a request for religious accommodation. This is likely to lead to more religious accommodations being granted, and it could also lead to more lawsuits from employees who believe that their religious rights have been violated.

Here are some takeaways for employers:

• You must now meet a much higher burden to deny a request for religious accommodation.
• You cannot simply argue that an accommodation would create a “de minimis” or trivial hardship.
• You must show that the accommodation would impose a “substantial” difficulty or cost.
• You should consider all relevant factors when making a decision about a religious accommodation request, including the nature of your business, its size, and its operating costs.
• You should not consider the impact of an accommodation on co-workers, as this is not a valid reason to deny a request.
• You should be prepared to receive more religious accommodation requests as a result of this decision.
• You should review your policies and procedures for handling religious accommodation requests to ensure that they are in compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision.

Be Audit-Secure™!