“US Labor Law and Religious Rights: The Groff Sabbath Rest Case in the Supreme Court”

Is the US Supreme Court overturning parts of the labor law because of an evangelical who wants to legally enforce what he believes to be a religious right, the “Sabbath” rest?

In an April 18 hearing, top US justices expressed sympathy for Gerald Groff’s position. The former postal worker, a devout conservative Christian from Pennsylvania, had accused his then employer, the United States Postal Service (USPS), of not fulfilling his wish not to work on Sundays. Groff’s interpretation of the faith forbids him from working on Sundays.

temporary office Groff, who lives in Pennsylvania, has been a USPS land delivery agent since 2012, representing tenured professionals who are entitled to weekends off. So when he started his temporary job, Groff had to reckon with being deployed at the weekend.

The evangelical didn’t seem to have any problems with that either, since there was no Sunday work at the USPS at the time. That changed the following year, when USPS struck a deal with Amazon to deliver packages on Sundays.

At first everything looked like an unbureaucratic solution. The Post signaled a good deal for Groff, offering to adjust his schedule so that he could come to work after the service. Alternatively, he could also ask colleagues whether they would take over his shifts. Finally, the USPS suggested that Groff choose another day to celebrate his “Sabbath.” Both the Post’s somewhat unworldly proposal and Groff’s insistence on his position hardened the fronts. Finally, Groff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is responsible for enforcing religious discrimination laws.

termination Groff finally left the company in 2019. According to CNN, in his resignation he stated that he had not been able to “find an accommodating working atmosphere at the USPS that took his religious beliefs into account”.

Initially, a lower court ruled against Groff because his request would place an “unreasonable burden” on the Post and it would create bad morale if other employees had to fill his shifts. “Sunday is a day when we get together and almost taste heaven,” Groff recently told the New York Times. “So when they ask us to deliver Amazon packages and give up all that, it’s really sad.”

The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to clarify the law to clarify that an employer is not required to respect an employee’s “sabbath” by “working understaffed or regularly paying overtime to find replacements.” . The Groff case remains exciting.