The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Hat Trick, Inc., a Chick-fil-A franchisee, and alleged the franchisee refused to reasonably accommodate an employee's request to not work on Saturdays, so she could observe her Sabbath.

According to the allegations, from September 2023 to February 2024, the employee held a fleet supervisor position. The employee allegedly informed the employer that, as a member of the United Church of God, she observed the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday as a sincerely-held religious belief.

The employee was allegedly not scheduled to work on Saturdays until February 2024 when she was told Saturday work would be required.

According to the allegations, the employee submitted a written request for religious accommodation and had several meetings with management after being informed of the new Saturday work requirement.

Management allegedly told the employee that, in order to avoid work on Saturdays, she would have to accept a non-managerial job as a delivery driver, which entailed lower pay, reduced hours, and reduced benefits. The employee allegedly proposed several other accommodations that would have allowed her to keep her managerial role - all of which were denied by management.

The employer alleged that the employee walked out of a meeting with management on February 23 and failed to show up for her shift on February 26. After this, the employer changed her employment status to "termination for job abandonment."

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/chick-fil-a-franchisee-denies-employee-fired-observing-saturday-sabbath-12198039; https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-hatch-trick-inc-religious-discrimination

Commentary

In the above lawsuit, the employer offered as a defense that the employee abandoned her job when she walked out of a meeting and missed her next shift.

A job abandonment defense is weakened when "job abandonment" occurs during an ongoing dispute regarding an open, unresolved accommodation request.

An employee's frustration and walkout during an unresolved dispute over a long-term, withdrawn religions accommodation may be recast as constructive termination rather than as job abandonment.

Consider the following to help avoid the risks:

· If an employee walks out, pause any job abandonment documentation if an accommodation request is pending

· Require a documented follow up contact after a cooling off period before labeling a missed shift as job abandonment

· Preserve meeting notes and time stamps regarding any employee exit from an accommodation discussion

The final takeaway is terminating an employee for "job abandonment" while an accommodation request sits unresolved invites scrutiny.