North Carolina Eatery to pay $40,000 to Christian cook it fired after he asked for Sundays off

As part of a consent decree, a North Carolina IHOP restaurant will have to pay damages to an ex-employee.Photo byMike Mozart

An IHOP restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina, has agreed to pay $40,000 to a former employee who was forced to work on Sundays in 2021, against his religious beliefs. The settlement was announced on August 6 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which had filed a lawsuit on the employee’s behalf.

Case Background:

• Employee's Initial Accommodation: The former employee was hired as a cook in January 2021 and was initially granted a religious accommodation allowing him not to work on Sundays to observe his faith.
• Management Change: In April 2021, a new general manager took over and disregarded the employee's religious accommodation, requiring him to work on Sundays, April 25 and May 9.
• Termination: When the employee reiterated his inability to work on Sundays due to his religious beliefs, the general manager fired him. The manager allegedly made derogatory comments about the employee's religious practices to other staff members.

Legal Proceedings:

• EEOC Lawsuit: The EEOC filed a lawsuit in 2023, citing violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandates that employers must provide reasonable accommodations for employees' religious practices unless it causes undue hardship for the business.
• Settlement: Under a two-year consent decree, the franchise owner, Suncakes, agreed to:
• • Pay $40,000 in damages to the former employee.
  • Provide annual training to managers on Title VII's religious accommodation provisions.
  • Revise company policies to explicitly include protections for religious accommodations.
  • Post notices about the settlement in all 17 IHOP locations operated by Suncakes in North Carolina.

Context:

• Supreme Court Influence: The settlement follows a significant June 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of a Christian postal worker who refused to work on Sundays. The ruling clarified that religious accommodation requests must be honored unless they impose more than a "trivial cost" on the employer, reinforcing protections against religious discrimination in the workplace.

This case highlights the importance of respecting religious accommodations in the workplace and upholding employees' rights under federal law.