January 19, 2023

BIRMINGHAM, AL – On Friday, January 13, 2023, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Groff v. DeJoy, which could substantially increase protection for religious freedom in the workplace.

In this case, a Christian named Gerald Groff was fired from the United States Postal Service for refusing to violate his religious beliefs by working on Sundays. Groff sued the Postal Service, and the lower courts ruled against him. He asked the United States Supreme Court to take his case, and the Alabama Center for Law and Liberty (“ACLL”) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of his petition. The Court agreed to hear the case on Friday.

Matt Clark, ACLL’s President, explained, “This case is significant because Groff is asking the Supreme Court to overrule the 1977 decision of Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, which significantly weakened protection for religious freedom in the workplace.” Clark continued, “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that employers grant their employees religious accommodations unless doing so would create an ‘undue hardship’ on the employer. In Hardison, the Court held that ‘undue hardship’ meant anything more than a ‘de minimis burden.’ While anyone who speaks English would take ‘undue hardship’ to mean some kind of substantial burden, Hardison unfortunately went the other way.”

Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Alito, who are widely considered the strongest conservative justices on the Court, have recently argued that Hardison should be revisited but have not been presented with a good case to reconsider it. But by granting certiorari in this case, the Court appears to believe that Groff may be a good vehicle to reconsider Hardison.

Clark also said, “If it were not for Hardison, then many people across the country who got fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds would probably still have jobs.” Clark added, “Many of those cases are still pending and will still be alive when the Court makes a decision in Groff, which will probably happen in June. Perhaps Groff will be the vehicle that finally allows these people to receive justice for standing by their religious beliefs.”

ACLL’s write-up of this case can be found here, and its amicus brief discussing stare decisis can be found here.

ACLL is a conservative nonprofit legal organization based in Birmingham, Alabama, and it is the litigation arm of the Alabama Policy Institute. For more information, visit ACLL’s website at www.alabamalawandliberty.org.

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