Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Charles Miller v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 24-2129 · judgment January 6, 2026


Certiorari denied · May 26, 2026
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Whether, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer may satisfy its heightened burden, established by the Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, of demonstrating “undue hardship” and thereby denying a religious accommodation request without conducting any individualized assessment of the employee’s specific circumstances or meaningfully exploring alternative accommodations, and based solely on a generalized, aggregate theoretical risk.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Robert Edward Barnes
Barnes Law LLP

For respondent
Eric Kinder
Spilman, Thomas and Battle, PLLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. May 26 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. May 05 2026
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2026.
  3. Apr 22 2026
    Waiver of right of respondent Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. to respond filed.
  4. Apr 06 2026
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 11, 2026)