An employer provides a reasonable accommodation only if it wholly eliminates the conflicts between the employee’s religious belief and the employer requirement, according to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The plaintiff requested every Sunday off as an accommodation for his religious beliefs. While the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) accommodated him by assigning other employees to cover most Sundays, it concluded it could not relieve him entirely of work on any Sunday. Faced with progressive discipline for failing to work on some Sundays when there was no coverage for him, the plaintiff resigned and later sued USPS for allegedly not going far enough in accommodating him.
