Topline The Supreme Court opened the door to more employees being granted accommodations for their religion at work Thursday, throwing out a ruling against a former postal worker who wanted to take off Sundays for religious reasons and clarifying when workplaces can refuse to accommodate workers’ religion—though it didn’t overturn its precedent on the issue as the postal worker had asked the court to do. The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Getty Images Key Facts The court ruled unanimously to throw out previous rulings against former postal worker Gerald Groff, who wanted to take off Sundays due to his religious beliefs and ultimately resigned from the U.S. Postal Service and sued the agency. USPS management forced Groff to work on Sundays when he was scheduled when someone couldn’t be found to replace him—part of a deal with Amazon to deliver packages, as USPS doesn’t deliver mail on Sundays—and managers disciplined him when he did not, which Groff said violated his federal rights. While federal law requires accommodations for employees’ religions unless they would impose “undue hardship” on the employer, previous Supreme Court precedent has found employers shouldn’t be required to “bear more than a de minimus cost” […]
