The courts giveth and taketh away when it comes to employers reasonably accommodating your constitutional rights to freely exercise religious beliefs and practices. While there are broad protections “on paper”, nonetheless, as a practical matter and depending on the circumstances, an employer may be able to show they’ve done all they’re required to do under the law.

Your employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate comes from state and federal constitutional and statutory laws. These laws provide an employer’s failure to reasonably accommodate your religious beliefs or practices is a form of unlawful discrimination. But they need not provide accommodations if doing so would result in an undue hardship for them.

A Postal Worker Wants to Observe the Sabbath

The case of Gerald Groff involves federal law against job discrimination, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Groff is a Christian who believes he’s obligated not to work on Sundays because he needs to attend religious services and rest. This conflicted with his “as needed” schedule when he worked at the US Post Office (USPS).

Groff worked as a Rural Carrier Associate (RCA) in Pennsylvania and was considered a “non-career” employee who covered for absent “career” employees. Since they work “as needed,” the USPS wants RCAs to be flexible with their work schedules.

Groff took the job in 2012. The following year the USPS signed an agreement with Amazon to deliver packages on Sundays. Groff initially worked at a busy USPS facility that would’ve required Sunday work, so he transferred to a smaller one that allowed him not to work that day if he worked another. Eventually, the workload increased because of Amazon packages, and Groff’s desire to avoid Sunday work became more of an issue.

Groff’s boss, the Postmaster, offered to change his schedule so he could attend religious services in the morning and report to work later, an accommodation provided to others. Later, the Postmaster asked others to cover Groff’s Sunday shifts. In 2017, another RCA took the shift but couldn’t do so after an injury.

For 2018’s peak season, the Postmaster tried to find coverage for Groff’s Sunday shifts, which he stated wasn’t easy, was time-consuming, and added to his workload. The Postmaster, at times, covered his shift. Groff’s no-shows on Sundays created tension with other RCAs and unhappiness with management because they needed to pick up the slack.

In July, the Postmaster was instructed to no longer over-schedule others to accommodate Groff. Groff received progressive discipline because of his absences and resigned in January 2019. He filed internal discrimination complaints. They resulted in a finding Groff made a case for discrimination, but because accommodating him was causing an undue hardship, no illegal discrimination occurred.

Groff filed a lawsuit in federal court, citing Title VII, claiming the USPS illegally discriminated against him by failing to reasonably accommodate his religion and forcing him to quit. The trial court dismissed Groff’s cases, and he appealed the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court agreed the case should be dismissed, but for different reasons.

The USPS Didn’t Reasonably Accommodate Groff…

The Third Circuit found that the shift swaps USPS offered to Groff didn’t eliminate the conflict between his religious practices and his work obligations, so USPS didn’t reasonably accommodate him. The court stated to be reasonable, the accommodation must fully address the employer’s needs. It’s not enough to give a little and force the worker to compromise their beliefs.

…But Management Didn’t Have to Because It Would’ve Been Too Much of a Burden on Their Operations

But the court ruled what Groff wanted (never working on Sundays) would cause undue hardship for USPS. They state the impact on fellow workers and operations would be enough to create an undue hardship. When deciding whether a hardship is undue, the court stated:

• Neutral policies must change to ensure their application doesn’t cause problems for the person. They must “give way to” religious practice, but with limits
• An undue hardship must cause more the minimal problems for the employer, but generally, this defense isn’t difficult to establish
• Economic and non-economic costs must be considered
• The facts of each case must be considered and be the basis of the ruling

Examples of undue hardships include negative impacts on operations such as:

• Productivity
• Quality
• Personnel and overtime costs
• Increased workload on others
• Reduced employee morale

In Groff’s case, the court stated when the USPS tried to accommodate him, they:

• Imposed greater burdens on his coworkers
• Disrupted the workplace and workflow
• Diminished employee morale
• Created a tense atmosphere with other RCAs

In the court’s opinion, these consequences created an undue hardship on USPS operations.

What’s All This Mean?

In the end, the Third Circuit:

• Giveth to workers by making it harder for employers to claim their proposed accommodation is reasonable (it must end the conflict between the employee’s beliefs and the company)
• Taketh from workers by dismissing a case where the workplace wasn’t heavily disrupted or impacted by Groff not working Sundays, though it did cause problems

Religious accommodation cases involve those two steps. Getting over the first hurdle won’t do you any good if you can’t make it over the second.

What Kingston Law Group Can Do for You!

The Kingston Law Group helps those subjected to religious discrimination in the workplace. We can answer your questions about the law, help you file a complaint with management, negotiate a favorable agreement allowing you to leave your employer, or represent you in litigation.

Contact Kingston Law Group through email (hisaacs@kingstonlawgroup.com) or call us at 609-683-7400. We will schedule a near-term reduced fee initial consultation. We can speak with you on the phone, through a Zoom call, or in person — if you’re vaccinated against Covid-19. We accept credit card payments, and our appointments are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. We can schedule evening appointments during the workweek by special arrangement only.

Contact us today. You’ll be glad you did.