Christian pancake maker awarded $40k after he was sacked for refusing to work Sundays

A Christian employee in South Carolina who was fired for refusing to work on Sundays will now receive $40,000 in compensation.

In 2021, Eddie Moton Jr was granted a religious accommodation when he was a hired as a cook at International House of Pancakes (IHOP). But when a new manager required him to work two Sundays, Moton was fired for refusing to do so again.

Under the settlement, franchise owner Suncakes will provide annual training to managers on religious liberty, inform all employees of the case, and revise its policies to expressly protect religious accommodations.

Church

The manager reportedly told other employees that “religion should not take precedence” over the workplace and that Moton “thinks it is more important to go to church than to pay his bills.”

But Taittiona Miles, who was the lead lawyer for the case, said: “Employers must respect all sincerely held religious beliefs, which includes providing reasonable accommodations when no undue hardship exists.”

Melinda Dugas of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission added: “Requesting an accommodation for a religious observation is protected activity under federal law. And employers are prohibited from taking adverse employment action against an employee for exercising that right.”

Britain

In the UK, employees can be granted reasonable accommodation to avoid working on Sundays.

In 2005, an Employment Tribunal ruled that Pathway Care Solutions could not require all of its employees to work Sunday shifts because it was a disproportionate policy, which excessively impacted a Christian employee.

Shop workers have additional rights to opt-out of Sunday working. Government guidance emphasises that an employee “cannot be dismissed or treated unfairly for choosing not to work on Sundays”.