On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Groff v. DeJoy that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers are required to provide religious accommodations to their employees or prospective employees unless they can demonstrate a substantial burden.
This is not a new accommodation requirement, but it is a change in the burden on employers to provide the accommodation.
Under Title VII, a private employer with 15 or more employees must offer reasonable accommodations for employees' sincerely-held religious observances that conflict with work requirements, unless this poses an undue hardship. While the requirement sounds similar to the reasonable accommodation requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), prior to this recent decision the standard for establishing an undue hardship under Title VII has had little teeth in court interpretations.
In the case of Groff, a rural mail carrier for the United States Postal Service ("USPS"), who was a strict observer of the Sunday Sabbath, was initially exempted from Sunday work as a reasonable accommodation. However, changes in the USPS agreement with the carriers' union led to the requirement for employees to work Sundays, which the carrier refused to do. This refusal led to an increased workload and possible resentment among co-workers, which resulted in disciplinary action against the carrier. The carrier resigned due to the lack of accommodation for his religious beliefs and subsequently...
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