On April 18 the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Groff v. DeJoy [Briefs] – which asks the Court to overrule the key holding in Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63 (1977).

Title VII generally prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual “because of such individual’s * * * religion.” The statute defines “religion” to include “all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”

In the Hardison case, the Supreme Court stated that an employer suffers an “undue hardship” in accommodating an employee’s religious exercise whenever doing so would require the employer “to bear more than a de minimis cost.”

The Hardison case was wrong, and should be overruled.

The "no more than a de minimis cost" rule was pulled out of thin air, and has no connection at all to Title VII's text.

The current Court has shown an eagerness to ensure that religious interests are treated no less favorably than secular interests.

I say Hardison R.I.P.