In Dimeo v. Gross, (PA Super. Ct., April 2, 2025), a Pennsylvania state appellate court upheld a trial court's refusal to delay the start of a trial by one day. Defendant sought the delay so he could observe Yom Kippur without missing a day of his trial. The court said in part:
Preliminarily, we note that the parties’ briefs direct our attention to the various tests employed by the United States Supreme Court upon claims of violations of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Nevertheless, we believe that the issue presented here, i.e., the propriety of the denial of a request for the continuance of a civil trial, can be resolved without reaching the constitutional question. ...
... [O]ur decision should not be interpreted as foreclosing continuance requests based upon religious observances. Rather, we simply mean to amplify the notion that courts may demand a showing of diligence on the part of the movant before granting such requests. Here, Appellants knew about their trial date over a year in advance. A quick calendar search would have revealed the trial’s conflict with Yom Kippur, and Appellants could have moved for a continuance weeks or months in advance. Appellants, however, waited until the eleventh hour, after the scheduling of expert witnesses, to request a continuance. Under these circumstances, Appellants failed to act with diligence, and we cannot say that the court abused its discretion in denying the request....
