This case law update was written by James P. Garay Heelan , an attorney at the law firm of Shaw Bransford & Roth , where he has practiced federal personnel and employment law since 2012. Mr. Heelan represents federal personnel across the Executive Branch, including career senior executives, law enforcement officers, foreign service officers, intelligence officers, and agencies in matters of federal personnel and employment law. The Supreme Court is set to decide the legal threshold for federal agencies and other employers to accommodate their employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs and practices. Gerald Groff is a devout Christian who believes his faith requires him to abstain from working Sundays. In 2012, Groff began his career with the U.S. Postal Service as a Rural Carrier Associate, a non-career position that provides coverage for absent career employees. In his position at the Quarryville, Pennsylvania Post Office, his supervisor helped him avoid working Sundays shifts. Things changed in 2013, when USPS signed a contract with Amazon to deliver packages all days of the week. Two years later in 2015, Quarryville began delivering Amazon packages on Sundays. Groff’s supervisor exempted him from Sunday work so long as he covered other shifts throughout the […]
