As a Christian, Gerald E. Groff tries to put God first in his career. He never imagined that his plain faith, which may prevent the Sabbath from being observed, would result in him losing his job as a postal service representative and winning a case before the US Supreme Court to defend his faith.
Almost two years since his June 2023 Supreme Court win, Groff, 47, awaits a jury trial date, expected soon, in the original case he brought against the U. S. Postal Service ( USPS). According to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national nature, he is seeking a religious hotel that would allow him to see the Sabbath.
Groff, of Lancaster County Pennsylvania, was hired as a Rural Carrier Associate (RCA ) in July 2012. The USPS was at the moment no delivering message on Saturday in his area at the time. Because he observes the Sabbath on Sunday, it turned out nicely for Groff.
The RCA status is considered part-time, offering no health insurance benefits. RCAs can work close to full time, but frequently they don’t have a dedicated route and instead handle numerous ones, filling in when normal carriers are down. With rank, an RCA is finally demand full time status and getting benefits.
Groff’s area was first affected by a USPS arrangement with Amazon to deliver deals on Sundays and holidays in 2016.
According to the USPS, allowing Groff to leave on Sunday do” generate significant costs,” including” Major effects on his coworkers,” and would violate a contract between the coalition and the USPS.
A memorandum of understanding between USPS and the National Rural Letter Carriers ‘ Association defines how Sunday and holiday piece distribution may be handled. It specifies the order in which USPS people should be called for Sunday job. Second in line are each capital’s” Assistant Rural Carriers” — part-time workers who cover merely Sundays and holidays. Following are any individuals, and third are all other companies, who are compelled to do the job on a rotating schedule. ” Groff fell into this second category”, Supreme Court documents say. He was informed that he would be required to work on Sunday after the memorandum of understanding was approved.
God V. Amazon Packages
Groff’s trust calls on him to uphold God’s law requiring restraint and the day to be divine in order to keep the Sabbath holy.  ,
” It’s about putting God first. That’s my private faith”, Groff told The Federalist. In order to recognize and acknowledge that God is the one who gives us power and breath to live, we give our first fruits to him in the manner of the tithe. It’s about moreover, giving that first day of the week to the Lord to declare, I’m putting you first. I want you to be my first like. I want you to be the cause I’m living. And I won’t make any sacrifices in order to provide Amazon deals.
RCAs are then required to work Saturday, but standard, full-time companies are not.  ,  ,  ,
” I tried to find a way to make it work”, Groff told The Federalist. His postal was initially willing to accommodate him. He worked more time on Sundays and vacations, but later the accommodation stopped.  ,
” She said,’ I’m never going to put up with this again this month. You either have to labor on Sundays, or you’re going to have to leave and find another job,'” Groff said.
He relinquished his Audio status in exchange for a position there that was so small that Sunday work was not required of him. About three months later, the plan changed. Even in the little post offices, RCAs were required to have Sundays. He had given up his position of rank and was still required to work Sundays.  ,
Unfortunately, if he had worked Saturday, and kept his rank, it would not have been much before Groff would have been promoted to full-time, making him excluded from working Saturday.
” If it’s really a process that you didn’t work Sundays, you can’t bargain to work on Sundays in order to get off on Sundays forever”, Attorney Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center, representing Groff, told The Federalist. Geraldine was a person who made sacrifices along the way. He wasn’t just saying,’ Accommodate me.’ It was,’ What may I would, even if it hurts?'”
Groff continued to ask for spiritual accommodations and agreed to work overtime or extra days during the week in exchange for Sundays off. But USPS put Groff on “progressive control”, for failing to operate on Sundays. Seeing his days were numbered it, he resigned. He has found labor since then, but it is not the same.
Groff said,” I never really was able to replicate the earning potential I had at the post office.” He went to court, asking for a permanent injunction to stop the USPS from “engaging in spiritual bias and reprisal” and for USPS to “provide equal employment opportunities for spiritual adherence of the Sabbath.”
The trial court judge stated that if an company encounters anything more than de minimis injury, they don’t have to support the staff before the case was heard.  ,
” And since that was the standard that we had in the trial judge, the trial judge said, we don’t even need to go to trial because that’s the common. It’s a poor normal, and it wasn’t in keeping with Congress ‘ intent”, Wenger said, referring to Congress ‘ intention when writing the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court decided unanimously to strengthen constitutional protections for workers who requested religious accomodations, such as schedule changes to see holy days, in that case. The choice has an impact on employment right at every place of business with at least 15 workers, in every condition in the nation.
According to a joint declaration from Baker Botts LLP, First Liberty Institute, the Church State Council, Cornerstone Law, and the Independence Law Center, the Court decided that federal law mandates that places of employment accommodate their spiritual employees unless doing so would result in significant increases in the cost of the company.
” Formerly, employers could avoid granting spiritual allowances to employees of faith just by pointing to trivial, minimal, or ‘ de minimis ‘ results. This selection means that more companies may be required to honor their religious employees by providing them with accommodations. Faithful employees frequently seek spiritual accommodations to recognize their holy days, take prayer breaks during the day, don appropriate clothing to reflect their beliefs, or otherwise not be forced to disobey them on the job.
The Supreme Court’s Groff choice has already been cited in almost 300 different circumstances, according to Wenger.
Groff has been anticipating jury appearances for some time. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, USPS attempted to postpone the event or have it dismissed. Next month. A USPS movement for summary judgment was denied, and Groff’s test was ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  ,  ,
Beth Brelje covers The Federalist’s votes coverage. She is an award-winning analytical columnist with years of internet experience.
