The Sabbath and Employment Discrimination

• Key point. Employers cannot dismiss or otherwise discriminate against employees who refuse to work on their Sabbath unless accommodating the employee's beliefs would cause an "undue hardship" to the employer.

• A federal appeals court ruled that an employer violated an employee's religious beliefs by refusing to make scheduling adjustments to accommodate the employee's refusal to work on the Sabbath. A member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church applied for a full-time job as a food inspector with the State of California. The Church teaches its members to observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and to refrain from engaging in secular work during that period. It further teaches that repeated violations of the Sabbath observance imperil one's salvation. The applicant had never worked on the Sabbath. Shortly after applying for the job, the applicant informed a ...