Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, welcomed last week's unanimous decision in favor of the plaintiff in Groff v. DeJoy, regarding a Sabbath-observant worker denied an accommodation for his religious observance. The Court said that "an employer must show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantially increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business."
CJV President Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld made the following comment:
Due to a 1977 SCOTUS decision requiring employers only a trivial, de minimis accommodation for religious observance, Orthodox Jews were denied accommodations when work schedules could easily have been rearranged. This placed an undue burden on Jewish and other employees simply wishing to honor their own faith-based obligations, and today's decision is a powerful victory for religious liberty.
