Christian mailman who refused to work Sunday scores SCOTUS win

 A Christian postal worker who quit after he was given grief for refusing to work Sundays had his discrimination lawsuit reinstated by the US Supreme Court Thursday.

Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian from Pennsylvania, sued the USPS in 2019, claiming that he was forced to quit after he received warnings and suspensions for refusing to work Sundays so he could observe the Sabbath.

Groff, 45, alleged the agency discriminated against him by failing to approve his religious accommodation to not be scheduled on Sundays.

The high court reinstated Groff’s case — which was thrown out by a lower court — finding that workplaces must give accommodations to religious workers unless the modifications cause significant difficulty or expense to the business.

The Supreme Court said that companies could no longer shirk religious accommodations on a reading of case law that they only prove minimal negative effects to business.

Groff’s case will be sent back to a federal appeals court, which will rule on the merit of his suit based on the Supreme Court’s clarification of the case law.

Groff began working for the Holtwood, Pa. Post Office in 2012 as a mailman and didn’t have any issues avoiding work on Sundays until 2017, when the USPS starting delivering packages for Amazon, according to his federal lawsuit.

A co-worker took his Sunday shifts until she was injured in December 2017, at which point Groff formally requested a religious accommodation, according to his lawsuit.

But the agency never gave him a formal response and kept scheduling him to work on the holy day.

Groff first received a written warning on June 6, 2017, then received a one-week suspension on Jan. 16, 2018 and a two-week suspension on Oct. 9, 2018, his suit said.

“The discipline and threat of termination due to the Lord’s Day observance caused Groff much anxiety and stress,” claimed his suit — which sought unspecified damages.

Groff said he was grateful for the ruling, adding: “I hope this decision allows others to be able to maintain their convictions without living in fear of losing their jobs because of what they believe.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision today means employers will have to take seriously their obligation to adjust workplace rules and policies, including schedules, so that workers with faith commitments are not excluded from the workplace,” Groff’s lawyer Alan Reinach said in a statement. “It is a huge victory for equal employment opportunity for those of every faith.”

The office for the Postmaster General didn’t immediately return a request for comment Thursday.