WASHINGTON, DC – Harrisburg based Independence Law Center and several other organizations have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of former mailman Gerald Groff. The petition asks the Court to reverse a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision finding that the U.S. Postal Service is not required to provide religious accommodations allowing Groff to be off work on Sundays. Independence Law Center Chief Counsel Randall Wenger said observing the Sabbath day is critical to many persons’ religious practice. No one should be forced to violate the Sabbath to hold a job. Wenger added just as the Supreme Court recognized in a case involving the right of a Muslim worker to wear a head scarf at a clothing store, a government employer like the Post Office should reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs. Groff began his career with the postal service in 2012 in Lancaster County as a mail carrier. When the post office started delivering packages on Sundays for Amazon, Groff asked for a religious accommodation. The postmaster initially granted his request, allowing him to work additional shifts on other days of the week instead, and USPS acknowledged this caused no undue hardship. But later the USPS offered only proposals that would require Groff to work on Sundays and thereby violate his conscience.
RANDALL WENGER