{"id":1960982,"date":"2023-06-29T21:05:03","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T01:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-unanimously-strengthens-religious-liberty-in-the-workplace\/"},"modified":"2023-06-29T21:07:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T01:07:45","slug":"scotus-unanimously-strengthens-religious-liberty-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-unanimously-strengthens-religious-liberty-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS boosts religious freedom at work"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-unanimously-strengthens-religious-liberty-in-the-workplace%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1960982&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The U.S. Supreme Court Strengthens Religious Liberty in the Workplace<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously strengthened religious liberty in the workplace Thursday, ruling in favor of a Christian postal worker who lost his job for refusing to work on Sundays.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Court\u2019s unanimous opinion in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Groff v. DeJoy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, overruled the decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the United States Postal Service (USPS) did not violate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-one-should-be-forced-to-choose-between-his-faith-and-his-paycheck\/\" title=\"No One Should Be Forced To Choose Between His Faith And His Paycheck\">religious accommodation rights<\/a> of postal worker Gerald Groff under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis decision will give those religious minorities a fair shot in court and, one would hope, encourage more employers to adopt more inclusive workplace policies so that religious employees won\u2019t have to choose between their livelihood and their faith,\u201d Joshua McDaniel, director of Harvard Law School\u2019s Religious Liberty Clinic, <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6291256\/groff-dejoy-religious-freedom-supreme-court\/\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After clarifying Title VII\u2019s requirements, the Court gave the case back to the Third Circuit to retry the case because of its factual complexity. This means that either Groff or the USPS could eventually prevail, but the USPS \u2014 and all employers \u2014 must meet a much higher standard to deny a religious accommodation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Groff, an Evangelical Christian and longtime employee of the USPS, never worked Sundays in line with his religious beliefs and his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-energy-department-drag-queen-gets-q-clearance-six-figure-government-salary\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s Energy Department Drag Queen Gets Q Clearance, Six Figure Government Salary\">initial job description<\/a>. But when the USPS started to deliver packages on Sundays because of a deal with Amazon, the postal service would require him to work on his Sabbath. To avoid conflict, he transferred to a different location.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">His new location started delivering on Sundays, and he claimed that USPS \u201cprogressive[ly] discipline[d]\u201d him because he refused to work Sundays. He then resigned and sued the USPS for religious discrimination. The Third Circuit rejected his claim<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The controversy in this case surrounded a 50-year-old standard from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Trans World Airlines v. Hardison<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In that case, the Court held that an employer could deny an accommodation if it causes a \u201cmore than <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">de minimis<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> cost\u201d \u2014 a legal term meaning that anything more than a \u201cvery small\u201d cost would be enough for an employer to legally deny any religious accommodation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Court held that Title VII\u2019s \u201cundue hardship\u201d language requires employers to show that the accommodation would impose a burden that \u201cis substantial in the overall context of an employer\u2019s business.\u201d Justice Alito stated that a business proving the accommodation would cause a small cost is not enough \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to establish \u2018undue hardship\u2019 under Title VII.\u201d This means that an employer now needs to show a substantial hardship would be caused by the religious accommodation in order to deny it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c[Costs imposed on a business due to a religious accommodation] would have to rise to the level of hardship, and adding \u2026 \u2018undue\u2019 means that the \u2026 burden \u2026 or adversity must rise to an \u2018excessive\u2019 or \u2018unjustifiable\u2019 level,\u201d Alito wrote. \u201cWhen \u2018undue hardship\u2019 is understood in this way, it means something very different from \u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0something that is \u2018very small or trifling.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Justice Alito notes, the low <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">standard from a previous case has been used by lower courts to deny many religious people even the most minor accommodations for firmly-held religious beliefs. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.becketlaw.org\/hardison\/#:~:text=45%20years%20ago%2C%20the,protections%20for%20people%20of%20faith.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Becket Law<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-against-christian-college-suing-biden-administration-over-trans-mandate\/\" title=\"Judge Rules Against Christian College Suing Biden Administration Over Trans Mandate\">religious liberty law firm<\/a>, 86% of religious accommodation claims under the now-struck-down <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">de minimis<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> test have been denied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For instance, Muslim women have been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/22\/22-174\/255821\/20230228143330165_2023-02-28%20Groff%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">discriminated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> against for wearing a hijab<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Apostolic Pentecostal <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mscklaw.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/religious-woman-denied-job-for-wearing-long-skirt\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">women<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/09\/29\/religious-woman-sues-restaurant-over-employee-dress-code\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">denied<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the ability to wear skirts instead of pants, and Sikh men have been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/22\/22-174\/238562\/20220922133906377_22-174_ACB%20-%20pdfA.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">denied<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the ability to wear turbans and grow out beards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The decision was supported in briefs by many religious groups, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/22\/22-174\/255807\/20230228140147824_Groff%20OU%20Amicus%20brief%20FINAL.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orthodox Jews<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Muslims, Sikhs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/22\/22-174\/255875\/20230228182814363_22-174%20tsac%20SDA.pdf\">Christians<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The decision will likely give religious employees more protection for religious accommodations in the workplace going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld religious freedom at work, ruling in favor of a Christian postal worker fired for refusing to work on Sundays. Justice Samuel Alito&#8217;s opinion in Groff v. DeJoy overturned the Third Circuit Court of Appeals&#8217; decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2107,"featured_media":1960983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1960982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1960982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1960983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}