Chick-fil-A’s well-known policy of closing on Sundays is at the center of a legal dispute in Texas. A franchisee is now facing legal action from the federal government after a manager was reportedly fired for not working on the Saturday Sabbath.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has initiated a lawsuit against Hatch Trick, which operates a Chick-fil-A location in the Austin area, citing religious discrimination. Allegations suggest that they pressured employee Laurel Torode, who belongs to the Unification Church, into Saturday shifts despite her religious beliefs.
The complaint states that Torode, during her job interview, made it clear she observes the Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset as part of her faith.
The United Church of God, which she is a part of, is a smaller Christian denomination that separated from the Worldwide Church of God in the 1990s and similarly observes the Sabbath this way, rather than on Sunday.
Initially, the franchise respected Torode’s request, but after a few months, they changed their stance and insisted she work on Saturdays.
When she raised concerns, Hatch Trick offered her a demotion to a delivery driver position that came with lower pay and fewer benefits, according to the EEOC.
After turning down that offer, Torode was terminated. The lawsuit claims that during an August 2023 interview, she reiterated to restaurant directors that she couldn’t commit to Saturday shifts due to her Sabbath observance.
It’s alleged that owner Jeff Glover also dismissed various alternative schedules that would have allowed her to keep her management role while observing her religious practices.
This lawsuit has drawn attention, especially given that Chick-fil-A emphasizes its Christian heritage and maintains its policy of closing on Sundays, allowing employees time for relaxation, family, and worship.
According to company history, founder S. Truett Cathy decided to close on Sundays in 1946 following an exhausting week of work in the restaurant industry.
The company’s stated purpose is to “glorify God,” which they uphold by closing on Sundays—even at the cost of significant annual revenue.
Under federal law, employers must reasonably accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees unless it imposes an “undue hardship” on the business.
The legal threshold for what constitutes undue hardship changed markedly after a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in 2023, which clarified that employers must demonstrate that any accommodation would result in a “substantial increase in costs” for their operations.
The EEOC appears poised to challenge the Chick-fil-A case under these new, stricter guidelines. They’ve noted that Torode proposed several scheduling solutions that would let her continue in her managerial position while respecting her Sabbath observance, but the company turned those down.
