(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday said the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) was not required to exempt a mail carrier from delivering Amazon packages on Sundays, when he observes the Sabbath, and dismissed his religious discrimination claims.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision said the accommodation sought by Gerald Groff, a former rural mail carrier in Pennsylvania, would have placed an undue hardship on USPS by straining the agency’s resources and forcing his coworkers to take on more shifts.
Groff quit his job in 2019 after his supervisors refused to give him a blanket exemption from working on Sundays, according to court filings. He accused USPS of violating federal anti-discrimination law by failing to accommodate his religious practice.