Protect The 1st Foundation
  • About
    • Leadership
  • Issues
  • Scorecards
  • News
  • Take Action
    • PRESS Act
    • Save Oak Flat Act
  • DONATE
  • About
    • Leadership
  • Issues
  • Scorecards
  • News
  • Take Action
    • PRESS Act
    • Save Oak Flat Act
  • DONATE
Picture

Groff v. DeJoy: Will the Supreme Court Expand Employees’ Religious Rights?

4/19/2023

 
Picture
In Tuesday’s oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court struggled to define a proper test for workplace rules that balance respect for employees’ religious liberty with their employers’ need for efficiency.
 
This case revolves around former postal worker Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian in Pennsylvania who alleged that his civil rights were violated when the Postal Service denied his right to refrain from working on Sunday.
 
A central question emerged: when an employee wants to take time off due to religious beliefs, is the prevailing standard of hardship that must experienced by employers too expansive – too generous – to the employer?
 
Another question: How can a court measure the degree of hardship an employer must suffer from an employee’s regular absence on a day of religious observance before it becomes actionable?
 
Justice Neil Gorsuch said there is “common ground” that a hardship standard that is de minimis (or trivial) “can’t be the test, in isolation at least, because Congress doesn’t pass civil rights legislation to have de minimis effect, right? We don’t think of the civil rights laws as trifling, which is the definition of de minimis.”
 
Justice Samuel Alito criticized the precedent created by the Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Trans World Airlines, Inc., v. Hardison, which held that employers can fire workers who refuse to work on a seventh day sabbath, as “an exercise in constitutional avoidance.” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said that under Hardison, the lower courts have interpreted that decision in a way that properly respects the rights of minority religions.
 
Justice Alito responded sharply: “[W]e have amicus briefs here by many representatives of many minority religions, Muslims, Hindus, Orthodox Jews, Seventh Day Adventists, and they all say that is just not true, and that Hardison has violated their right to religious liberty.”
 
The quest for “common ground” was repeated by several Justices, a ray of hope that the Court may craft a new doctrine with more latitude for the religious. Based on Tuesday’s oral arguments, it would be foolhardy to predict how the Justices will come down on this one. Protect The 1st can only direct attention to Justice Thurgood Marshall’s dissent in Hardison:
 
“The ultimate tragedy is that despite Congress’ best efforts, one of this Nation’s pillars of strength – our hospitality to religious diversity – has been seriously eroded. All Americans will be a little poorer until today’s decision is erased.” 

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    2022 Year In Review
    Amicus Briefs
    Analysis
    Campus Speech
    Court Hearings
    Donor Privacy
    First Amendment
    First Amendment Online
    Freedom Of Press
    Freedom Of Religion
    Freedom Of Speech
    In The Media
    Journalism
    Law Enforcement
    Legal
    Legislative Agenda
    Letters To Congress
    Motions
    News
    Opinion
    PRESS Act
    PT1 Amicus Briefs
    Save Oak Flat
    School Choice
    SCOTUS
    Section 230
    Supreme Court

    RSS Feed

we  the  people.

LET  YOUR  VOICE  BE  HEARD:


ABOUT

Who We Are

​Leadership

ISSUES

1st Amendment

TAKE ACTION

Donate

​Contact Us
® Copyright 2023 Protect The 1st Foundation