After years of a lengthy legal battle, the case of a postman who says the United States Postal Service (USPS) must provide him with a religious accommodation is taking his case to the Supreme Court.
“Today, First Liberty Institute, Baker Botts LLP, the Church State Council, and the Independence Law Center filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of former mailman Gerald Groff,” the First Liberty Institute said earlier this week. “The petition asks the Court to reverse a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision finding that the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) is not required to provide religious accommodation allowing Groff to observe the Sunday Sabbath.”
Groff was first employed by USPS in 2012. In 2016, USPS began delivering packages for Amazon on Sundays, which had previously been a day off for all USPS employees.
Groff is a Christian and observes the Sabbath, a Sunday day of rest for Christians.
“It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion,” said Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel at First Liberty. “USPS should have granted Gerald a reasonable accommodation to observe the Sunday Sabbath. Forcing him to choose between his faith and his job is illegal. We must protect the right of every American to engage in religious exercise without fear of getting fired from their jobs.”
Initially, a district court sided with USPS. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said that USPS had indeed failed to provide a reasonable accommodation for Groff, but that doing so would present an undue hardship for USPS.
It is that ruling on which First Liberty is appealing to the Supreme Court.
“Observing the Sabbath day is critical to many faiths — a day ordained by God,” said Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center. No one should be forced to violate the Sabbath to hold a job.”
According to its website, First Liberty has been defending the First Amendment rights of Americans for three decades.
“For over 30 years, First Liberty President, CEO and Chief Counsel, Kelly Shackelford, has been leading the fight to reclaim religious freedom in America,” the website says. “Joining Kelly on the frontlines are a dedicated team of legal experts who have helped First Liberty achieve an unparalleled win rate of over 90% across all legal matters.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Make the USPS eat it and fire the judge who supported it.
Since when does Amazon control the US Post Office. How much money is the US Post Office getting from Amazon to deliver mail on Sunday. Who signs this man’s pay check, Amazon. As far as i know the PO does not deliver on Sunday so why is the PO saying this man or any employee has to work on a day the PO hasn’t worked on for years or never as far as I know. Now unless the man’s paycheck comes from Amazon the man should not be working on Sunday although the PO is now working a half a day on Saturday. The problem is the PO is it’s own entity as a private business and as a private business the PO can say to the employee you work as we need you or you’re fired like any non govt business can do. The employee has the option of finding another job where the workplace is closed on Sunday. The PO should go back to the govt if it wants to be closed on Sunday.
I wonder what the USPS policy is for accommodating Muslim prayers?