North Carolina IHOP to pay $40K after religion lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The management company for a south Charlotte IHOP was ordered to pay $40,000 from a lawsuit after an employee was allegedly fired for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons .

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Suncakes NC, LLC, and Suncakes, LLC, doing business as the IHOP breakfast restaurant, will pay the fine and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Suncakes hired a cook at its Woodlawn Road location in January 2021. At the time of hire, the employee requested and was granted a religious accommodation of not working on Sundays to honor his religious observances.

After a change in management in April 2021, documents say the new general manager expressed hostility toward the accommodation and required the employee to work on Sunday, April 25, and Sunday, May 9. After the employee told the general manager that due to his religious beliefs, he would no longer work on Sundays, the general manager fired him.

The lawsuits states that the general manager was also alleged to have made comments to other employees such as, “religion should not take precedence over [the employee’s] job” and that the employee supposedly “thinks it is more important to go to church than to pay his bills.”

The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides for religious accommodations in the workplace and protects individuals from religious discrimination and retaliation. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process.

Under the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Suncakes is ordered to pay $40,000 in monetary damages to the employee, provide annual training to managers on the provisions of Title VII, post a notice to employees about the settlement, and revise their current policies to expressly include protection for religious accommodations.

The revised policy will be posted in all 17 IHOP locations operated by Suncakes in North Carolina. The IHOP website shows the Woodlawn location is currently hiring for 15 positions, including two general managers.

“Religious discrimination is intolerable,” said Taittiona Miles, lead trial attorney for the case. “Employers must respect all sincerely held religious beliefs, which includes providing reasonable accommodations when no undue hardship exists.”

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