His supervisors initially exempted Groff from working Sundays as long as he covered other shifts. But their attempts to find volunteers for those days didn’t always work, and by 2018, Groff had missed 24 Sunday shifts. Disciplinary measures began mounting.
"If they had to work a Sunday for me, I could remind them that I may have worked Thanksgiving for them," said Groff, who is represented by First Liberty Institute, a group that has brought several successful religious claims to the nation's highest court.
Still, at least one industry group and several unions opposing Groff worry about the fallout if more employees become entitled to time off for religious holidays and sabbaths. A new standard, some fear, could make a mess of seniority systems that have been negotiated to deal with shifts few want to work.
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