Supreme Court ruling in Sabbath accommodation case has far-reaching consequences for observant Jews

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a case that drew support from a broad array of Jewish groups, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that employers had to show a “substantial” burden to deny workers religious accommodation.

In a decision released Thursday, the court sided with Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian mail carrier who asked not to work on Sundays, his Sabbath. Jewish groups that do not often line up on the same side of church-state issues before the court were of a single voice in this case.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing the opinion, sought to substantially narrow a 1977 decision that faith g...