Legal battle with USPS ends in victory for Christian postal worker who refused to work on Sundays

The United States Postal Service and a Christian postal worker who lost his job for observing Sunday as a Sabbath day have reached an agreement, ending a years-long legal battle.

The case, first filed in 2019, centered around Gerald Groff, a Christian postal carrier based in Pennsylvania who was forced to quit his job after refusing to work on Sundays. He sued the USPS, arguing the agency could have accommodated his religious observances without “undue hardship” to business operations.

The case reached the Supreme Court in 2023, and the justices unanimously held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act “requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increase costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.” In a win for Groff, the Supreme Court’s decision clarified the legal standard for religious accommodations and sent the case back to the lower courts for further review. 

However, as the new trial date approached the parties “negotiated a settlement to provide compensation for Gerald and resolve the case,” First Liberty Institute, which represented Groff, announced in a statement.  

“We are thankful the Supreme Court ruled in our favor 9-0, overturning decades of bad law trampling religious liberty in the workplace,” First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford said. “We appreciate the Department of Justice’s efforts to bring this case to a final and fair resolution.” 

Federal court documents reviewed by The Lion indicate the case “has been settled” and dismissed. The Lion has reached out to USPS for comment about the settlement. 

First Liberty Institute painted the Supreme Court’s decision as a “massive shift in the law that favors religious working Americans.” 

“Because of the Groff ruling, the bar is now much higher for employers to deny a religious accommodation,” the institute noted. “The Supreme Court held that federal law requires workplaces to accommodate their religious employees unless doing so would cause substantial increased costs on the business. Previously, employers could refuse to grant religious accommodations to employees if the impact was little more than trifling, minimal or ‘de minimis.’” 

Because employees of faith regularly seek accommodations to observe prayer, holy days, or dress for their religious beliefs, the institute added, the decision “means that more employers are legally required to respect their religious employees by granting them accommodations.” 

Image credit: First Liberty Institute