The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Chick-fil-A franchisee Hatch Trick Inc., accusing it of religious discrimination.
According to the lawsuit, the employee’s denomination, the United Church of God, observes a Saturday Sabbath. She requested no hours on Saturday and disclosed the need during her interview. After several months of working for Hatch Trick, the company reversed course and demanded that she work on Saturdays.
The filing further says that the employee met with officials to discuss alternatives and her needs.
“Hatch Trick rejected all options for the employee to remain in her managerial job while abstaining from Saturday work, instead telling her that she must move to a non-managerial delivery driver position which entitled her to lower pay, reduced benefits and fewer hours,” the EEOC said of the matter. “When the employee declined to accept the driver position, the company discharged her, according to the lawsuit.”
“The duty under federal law to provide reasonable accommodation of religion reflects an acknowledgment by our society of the importance of faith in workers’ everyday lives and an abiding respect for those who observe religious practices as an expression of that faith,” Acting EEOC Dallas Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips said in a statement. “Just as adherence to the dictates of one’s own conscience is not optional, so too an employer’s duty under Title VII is obligatory, and the EEOC stands ready to enforce that legal duty.”
The EEOC’s policy on religious discrimination says that law requires an employer to “reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause a burden that is substantial in the overall context of the employer’s business taking into account all relevant factors, including the particular accommodation at issue and its practical impact in light of the nature, size, and operating cost of the employer.”
