It’s a question a lot of folks in HR deal with: When an employee wants time off for a religious reason, can a manager ever say no?
Now a court’s going to tackle the question — and the answer could cost Wal-Mart a million bucks.
For roughly a year, John Kennedy worked in the deli for a Wal-Mart-owned Sam’s Club store. During that time, he made numerous complaints about being required to work on Sundays.
Kennedy is a devout Catholic, and told managers he needed Sundays off to attend Mass. He claims the company agreed to his scheduling request when he was hired but forced him to work anyway.
After making the complaints to management, Kennedy was fired. He’s suing the company for $1 million.
The law requires companies to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
We’ll keep you posted on how the case is decided.
