The Supreme Court announced Monday it will not hear a religious liberty lawsuit brought by a longtime Walgreens employee who was fired for not showing up to work on his Sabbath.
Darrell Patterson, a Seventh Day Adventist, had a longstanding agreement with Walgreens not to work on Saturdays, but company executives scheduled an emergency meeting on a Saturday to train employees after the company had violated an Alabama pharmacy law. Mr. Patterson filed his lawsuit after being fired.
The high court did not grant his case a writ of certiorari Monday.
Justice Samuel A. Alito wrote a concurring opinion in denying the case, saying it was not a “good vehicle” for revisiting a federal standard by which employers can claim “undue hardship” when refusing to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs.
Justice Clarence Thomas noted that the current federal standard is based on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines and not the “religion” amendment added to the Civil Rights Act in 1972.
• Christopher Vondracek can be reached at cvondracek@washingtontimes.com.
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