Last Thursday, the US Supreme Court, in a victory for religious freedom, broadened protections for religious workers in a case that involved a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service who refused to work on Sunday, his Sabbath. In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected a test that had long been used to determine what accommodations an employer must make for religious workers but declined to rule on the merits of the case, sending it back to a lower court to consider under a new standard.
This decision by the high court is encouraging. Essentially the justices put the employer on the defense, rather than the employee who is seeking a religious accommodation. That’s a reversal of how the courts had previously ruled. The Constitution guarantees religious freedom. Businesses now have to show a substantial burden to deny a religious accommodation.
