Sherbert v. Verner (1963)

In Sherbert v. Verner, 374 US 398, the US Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional for the state of South Carolina to deny unemployment compensation to a Seventh-Day Adventist woman who was fired from her job for refusing to work on Saturdays. The Court's expansive interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution set an important but controversial precedent for how cases involving religious freedom ought to be decided. In Sherbert, the Court ruled that the state could not infringe upon a person's right to free exercise of religion unless it had a "compelling interest" that could not otherwise be satisfied. The case originated when Adell Sherbert, a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, was discharged by her employer for refusing to work on Saturday, the Sabbath day of her faith. When, for the same reason, she was unable to find work elsewhere, Sherbert sought unemployment compensation from the state of South Carolina.