July 7, 2023
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers can only deny an employee’s request for a religious accommodation under federal law if they can prove it would result in substantial increased costs for the business.
In this case, a Christian postal worker, Gerald Groff, sued the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for failing to accommodate his request to not work on Sundays. The USPS does not deliver mail on Sundays, but it does have a contract to deliver packages for Amazon that includes Sundays.
In a rare unanimous decision, the court rejected a longstanding interpretation of high court precedent requiring employers to only show that the accommodation would cause them to “bear more than a de minimis cost.” Now, employers must prove “the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.”
If you have any questions about this or any other employment law matter, please contact Dean Leazenby or any of the other attorneys at Warrick & Boyn, LLP.