Texas Chick-fil-A franchisee sued over alleged Sabbath discrimination

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A Texas Chick-fil-A franchise operator is facing a federal lawsuit over allegations that it refused to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs before ultimately firing her.

According to a complaint filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and obtained by FOX Business, Hatch Trick, Inc. — which operates several Chick-fil-A restaurants in the Austin area — allegedly discriminated against employee Laurel Torode, whose faith prohibits her from working on Saturdays.

Torode, a member of the United Church of God, reportedly disclosed during her interview that she observes the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. 

The EEOC said the company initially accommodated her request while she worked as a manager overseeing delivery drivers at one Austin-area location.

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A Texas Chick-fil-A franchise operator is being sued by the EEOC for allegedly refusing to accommodate an employee’s Sabbath observance before firing her. The employee, Laurel Torode, said her faith bars her from working from sunset Friday to sunset (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

That arrangement allegedly changed several months later.

“In early February 2024, Defendant told Torode that going forward it would require her to work on Saturdays, to include the period in which she observes the Sabbath,” as noted in the complaint.

According to the lawsuit, Torode sought accommodations and met with company officials to discuss alternatives that would allow her to remain in her management role while continuing to observe her Sabbath.

Instead, the company allegedly told her she would need to accept a lower-level delivery driver position with reduced pay, fewer hours and diminished benefits if she wanted to avoid Saturday shifts.

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Laurel Torode, a United Church of God member, said she disclosed during her interview that she could not work from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

When Torode declined the position, Hatch Trick terminated her employment, according to the EEOC.

The EEOC alleges the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ religious beliefs unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

“The duty under federal law to provide reasonable accommodation of religion reflects an acknowledgment by our society of the importance of faith in workers’ everyday lives and an abiding respect for those who observe religious practices as an expression of that faith,” acting EEOC Dallas Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Austin after the EEOC said efforts to resolve the dispute failed.

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The employee says she was told to accept a lower-paying delivery driver role to avoid Saturday shifts, then was terminated when she declined. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The case has sparked attention because Chick-fil-A is famously closed on Sundays, a policy the company says was established by founder S. Truett Cathy in 1946, so employees could “rest, enjoy time with their families and loved ones or worship if they choose.”

Chick-fil-A declined to comment on the lawsuit, but told FOX Business that “as a franchise business, all employment decisions are solely the responsibility of each individual restaurant owner.”

Hatch Trick Inc. and the EEOC could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

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