Through the two hours of oral arguments, the single prevailing concern on the part of the government was that Amazon could continue delivering packages on Sundays: Everything else was secondary. Distilled to its basic parts, the government’s argument defined our regime’s fundamental orientation toward a lived practice of faith: In America, religious observance must be safe, legal, and rare.
While no man can serve two masters, that won’t stop us from trying. Perhaps the government hasn’t internalized that Groff’s attendance at work for an unnecessary reason is truly a matter of life and death. It wouldn’t be a violation of conscience regarding a civil case, but a case of divine law. We can judge whose bottom line should be favored on this ground alone, so it will be good to see which master our judges serve.
[It’s an interesting case, in part because there are significant interests on both sides. Amazon and the USPS want to bolster delivery performance, and the plaintiff has had a long interest in keeping the Sabbath. That doesn’t *necessarily* require employers to rearrange schedules, but the plaintiff in this case appears to have tried to offer some reasonable accommodations and the employer imposed Sunday work days long after the employee had begun working there. Should be an interesting case to watch, but I’d bet on a very narrow ruling in either direction. This is not the kind of circumstance for a broad precedent. — Ed]
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