The case involves a non-career postal employee who who cited his Christian beliefs in refusing to work on Sundays. Image: Phil Pasquini/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a federal agency’s duty to accommodate religious views of an employee in work scheduling.
While the case involves a former Postal Service worker, it will have broader implications not only across the government but also in the private sector because it involves provisions of EEO law that apply in both sectors. That is a requirement that employers must reasonably accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would inflict an “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”
The case involves a former rural carrier associate—a non-career employee who provides coverage for career employees—who cited his Christian beliefs in refusing to work on Sundays. That became an issue when the USPS began Sunday delivery of packages, and while work-arounds were found initially, during peak delivery season it triggered complaints from other employees that they were being called to work on Sundays excessively. Facing potential firing, the employee resigned and filed the suit.
A district court and then an appeals court held that accommodating him put more than a minimal burden on the USPS and that the impact on other employees amounted to an “undue hardship.” At issue before the high court are questions of whether more than a minimal impact, and whether more than an extra burden on co-workers, must be shown for management to be excused from its duty to accommodate on business grounds.
That becomes the second case in this term before the high court, which in many terms does not take up any cases directly involving federal employees. The court recently heard oral arguments in a separate case involving the FLRA’s jurisdiction over disputes involving “dual status” technicians, who are DoD employees who also must hold positions in the National Guard or Reserves to maintain their federal employment.
Decisions in both cases are expected before July.
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