The Postman’s Sabbath and Federal Law

How flexible must an employer be when a worker asks for a religious accommodation? The Supreme Court will ponder that Tuesday in Groff v. DeJoy, the case of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who resigned under reprimand after refusing to work on Sundays.

Gerald Groff is an evangelical Christian, and in 2012 he started as a USPS noncareer rural carrier associate, which involved covering absences for career staff. Sunday shifts weren’t originally part of the gig, but then the USPS signed a deal to carry Amazon parcels. Mr. Groff’s post in Quarryville, Pa., began Sunday deliveries in 2015. At first, he says, he was given an exemption, “so long as he covered other shifts throughout the week.”