Business · Statewide · NY · August 21, 2026
UMC Member Sues Employer, Citing Genesis, Over Fossil-Fuel 401(k) Options
Christianity Today reports that Andrew Hartley, a United Methodist and science director at Thermo Fisher Scientific, filed a religious discrimination lawsuit on August 4 against the Massachusetts-based biotech company. Hartley, a New York resident, says his faith requires "creation care" and requested a fossil-fuel-free retirement investment option in October 2024. The company told him his request did not meet "criteria for a religious accommodation"; after more than a year of follow-ups, he sued. His filing cites Genesis stewardship, God's ownership of land in Leviticus 25:23, and Sabbath rest for the land in 2 Chronicles 36:21. His attorney, Jaclyn Lee of Client Earth, says the case leans on the 2023 Supreme Court decision Groff v. DeJoy, which requires employers to accommodate religious observance absent "substantial increased costs." Legal scholar Thomas Berg called the complaint well-drafted and said the case will likely turn on cost. Thermo Fisher declined to comment on pending litigation.
Source: Christianity Today
Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
Bible-believing Christians should watch this case for two reasons. First, it tests how far Groff v. DeJoy's religious-accommodation standard extends — a precedent that could also protect employees seeking conscience-based benefits, such as declining investment in abortion-linked funds. Second, Genesis does teach that man was placed in the garden "to dress it and to keep it," but this suit treats a specific political position — mandatory fossil-fuel divestment — as a direct scriptural requirement rather than a prudential application. Christians should distinguish biblical stewardship, which is real, from contested policy conclusions dressed in scriptural language, especially when advanced through a mainline denomination that has seen significant theological drift. How courts rule here may shape what counts as a legitimate "religious belief" for employer accommodation nationwide.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. — Genesis 2:15
Share this alert
From the book
Daniel survived because he was useful. The king needed him. A Christian employee protects himself by becoming genuinely difficult to replace. When you are the strongest performer in the division you are much harder to remove for ideological reasons. Competence buys the standing to hold a conviction.
— Chapter 23, “The Employee: The Daniel Option”
Get the BookKnow where you stand
The free 4-minute assessment identifies your mountain and your institution’s capture phase — so alerts like this one arrive matched to where you actually stand.
Facing this yourself? Ask. Describe what is happening and get what the book, Scripture, and the law of your state say, with the exact words to use. Your first one is free.