The Supreme Court rules against USPS in Sunday work case

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously handed a major victory to religious groups by greatly expanding how far employers must go to accommodate the religious views of their employees.

The court ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian postal worker who refused to work on Sundays for religious reasons and said the USPS should accommodate his religious belief.

The case now returns to the lower courts.

The justices clarified law that made it illegal for employers to discriminate based on religion, requiring that they accommodate the religious beliefs of workers as long as the accommodation does not impose an “undue hardship on the employer’s business.” The court had previously defined the statutory term “undue hardship” by saying that employers should not have to bear more than what the court called a “de minimis,” or trifling, cost.

That “de minimis” language has sparked a lot of criticism over the years. But Congress has repeatedly rejected proposals to provide greater accommodations for religious observers, including those who object to working on the Sabbath.

On Thursday, writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito said the hardship must be more than minimal.

Courts “should resolve whether a hardship would be substantial in the context of an employer’s business in the commonsense manner that it would use in applying any such test,” he wrote.

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