The US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2023. Christian postal worker protested denial of Sunday off Religious groups wanted Title VII ‘undue hardship’ to mirror ADA The US Supreme Court unanimously created a higher standard for employers to measure the burden a worker’s religious accommodation request would impose on its business. The justices on Thursday declined a Christian former US Postal Service worker’s bid to completely undo the high court’s 1977 decision in Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison , which said employers only need to show that a requested religion-based accommodation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act would impose a minimal, “undue” burden to be able to reject it. Gerald Groff had objected to delivering packages for Amazon.com Inc. on Sundays and requested an accommodation allowing him to avoid working that day on religious grounds. A divided US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel relied on Hardison to affirm a lower court ruling in favor of the Postal Service. Groff advocated for a standard more like that of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which also requires accommodations for workers’ disabilities unless doing so presents an “undue hardship” on the employer. […]
