The Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier for employees to seek religious accommodations in a case involving a lawsuit brought by an evangelical Christian mail carrier who asked not to work on Sundays.
According to NBC, The case involves a claim brought by a Pennsylvania man, Gerald Groff, who says the U.S. Postal Service could have granted his request that he be spared Sunday shifts based on his religious belief that it is a day of worship and rest.
“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,” Groff said in a statement Thursday.
His case will now return to lower courts for further litigation on whether he prevails under the new standard.
In a statement, Postal Service spokeswoman Felicia Lott called the ruling “fully consistent with the standard we apply when seeking to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs, observances and practices of our employees.”
As such, she added, the Postal Service expects to ultimately win the case.
Groff had argued that it was too difficult for employees to bring religious claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits workplace discrimination on various fronts, including religion.
The justices in a unanimous ruling written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito clarified a 1977 Supreme Court ruling called Trans World Airlines v. Hardison.
The court said then that employers are not required to make accommodations if they would impose even a minimal or, using the Latin term preferred by the court, “de minimis,” burden.
That ruling built on the language of Title VII, which says an accommodation can be rejected only when there is an “undue hardship” on the employer.