Worthy Christian News > US News > Supreme Court to hear case on Evangelical employee wanting Sundays off as Sabbath

Supreme Court to hear case on Evangelical employee wanting Sundays off as Sabbath

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by an Evangelical Christian who claims his employer discriminated against him by refusing to honor his religious beliefs and allow him Sundays off as a Sabbath, the Christian Post (CP) reports.

Gerald Groff of Pennsylvania had been employed by UPS for around seven years when the Quarryville Post Office in Lancaster County began to require him to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays, CP reports. Groff then asked to have Sundays off in accordance with his religious beliefs, and, at first, this was allowed.

Later, however, the postmaster again required Groff to work on Sundays, causing him to resign in 2019, CP reports.
In a statement, Kelly Shackelford of the First Liberty law firm that is representing Goff said: “It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion. It’s time for the Supreme Court to reconsider a decades-old case that favors corporations and the government over the religious rights of employees.”

The case was brought to the attention of the Supreme Court after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Groff. Giving the decision, Obama appointee Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz wrote: “Exempting Groff from working on Sundays caused more than a de minimis cost on USPS because it actually imposed on his coworkers, disrupted the workplace and workflow, and diminished employee morale.”