Supreme Court Decision Raises the Bar on Employer Requirements for Religious Accommodations

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest federal court in the United States, issued a ruling in Groff v. DeJoy regarding the requirement for employers to provide religious accommodations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which makes it illegal for employers (including federal agencies and unions) to discriminate against employees or applicants for employment because of their religious beliefs in hiring and firing and during their employment.

Title VII also requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for the religious beliefs or practices of employees or applicants, unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship” on the employer.

In Groff, an Evangelical Christian mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service received the reasonable accommodation of not working on Sundays to observe the Sunday Sabbath. A few years into his employment, the USPS and the postal-workers union entered into a new agreement under which the mail carrier was occasionally required to work on Sundays. As a result, the carrier quit and sued the USPS, which argued that allowing the mail carrier to take off on Sundays created an undue burden on the other carriers who had to fill in for him.

The decision in Groff changed what an employer must show to deny a religious accommodation because of an undue hardship. Before this case was decided, an employer could deny a request for a reasonable religious accommodation if the cost or burden of the request was more than very minor; i.e., more than “de minimis”. Essentially, the bar was very low for what an employer had to show to be able to legally deny a request for a religious accommodation.

The Supreme Court decision in Groff changed the game by requiring employers to prove that the requested reasonable accommodation created a burden that is “substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business.” Thus, the Supreme Court raised the bar and made it more difficult to deny requests for reasonable religious accommodations.

If you think your employer has denied your request for a reasonable religious accommodation or discriminated against you because of your religion, the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help. Contact us at 888-456-2529 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.