Cornerstone case granted appeal by SCOTUS

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The top of the Supreme Court building and a blue sky.

In 2020, Cornerstone Law Firm attorney David Crossett represented a mail carrier from Lancaster named Gerald Groff. Mr. Groff sued the United States Postal Service for their failure to accommodate his religious beliefs regarding working on Sundays. The case eventually ruled in favor of the USPS, citing a precedent set by the 1977 Supreme Court case “Trans World Airlines v. Harding.”

Mr. Groff later brought the case before the Supreme Court and asked them to reconsider the original ruling from the Harding case. His case was the 4th in recent years to push back on Harding’s precedent, and SCOTUS has granted certiorari in regards to this case. (Certiorari is the process of a higher court reviewing a decision made by a lower court.)

The SCOTUS appeal is not being handled by a Cornerstone attorney, but we are interested to see how this plays out as the original case was brought to trial by one of our own. It’s rare that a case is heard by the Supreme Court, as they only review about 60 cases per year. Depending on the ruling, Groff v. DeJoy has the potential to set a new precedent for similar religious liberty cases.

If you’re interested in learning more about this case, here are some resources:

SCOTUS Blog Post #1

SCOTUS Blog Post #2

SCOTUS Blog Post #3

Advisory Opinions Podcast

An early press release about this case