Gerald Groff appears in an image provided to Law&Crime by his lawyers. A postal worker who asked for a religious accommodation to have every Sunday off is now asking the Supreme Court to review his case. Former postal worker Gerald E. Groff is an Evangelical Christian and Sunday Sabbath observer. Groff began working for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in 2o12 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When the USPS began contracting with Amazon in 2013, postal workers were expected to take on Sunday shifts to accommodate weekend deliveries. The collective-bargaining agreement to which Groff was bound required him to work some Sundays. Because the Sunday shift conflicted with Groff’s religious practice, he requested special accommodation; for a time, Groff’s supervisor allowed Groff to simply find a replacement worker for his Sunday shift. However, Groff often failed to find a replacement, resulting in his missing over two dozen assigned Sunday shifts. In 2019, Groff, aware that his termination was imminent, resigned from his position and filed a federal lawsuit arguing that he had been a victim of discrimination because the postal service failed to provide an appropriate accommodation. The district court sided with the USPS at the summary judgment phase. U.S. […]
