Chick-fil-A spokesperson clarifies company isn’t named in lawsuit
By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Monday, May 18, 2026Chick-fil-A restaurant with an American flag in Tulsa, Oklahoma. | Getty Images
A Chick-fil-A franchisee in Austin, Texas, allegedly violated federal law by refusing to accommodate an employee’s religious request to observe the Sabbath on Saturday and then fired her after she declined a demotion, according to a federal lawsuit.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on May 14 that it has sued Hatch Trick, Inc., which operates multiple Chick-fil-A locations in Austin. The suit, which claims the fast food chain engaged in religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, states that the employee managed delivery drivers at one of the Austin locations and is a member of the United Church of God, a denomination that observes the Sabbath on Saturday.
According to the lawsuit, the employee disclosed her request for no scheduled hours on Saturdays during her job interview, and the company initially honored the request.
Several months later, according to the EEOC, Hatch Trick changed its position and demanded she work Saturdays. In response, the employee made additional accommodation requests by meeting with company officials and proposing alternatives that would have allowed her to retain her managerial role while observing her faith, the EEOC states.
The company allegedly rejected the employee’s proposals and instead told her that she would have to move to a lower-paying, non-managerial delivery driver position with reduced benefits and fewer hours. When she declined, she was discharged, according to the agency.
“The duty under federal law to provide reasonable accommodation of religion reflects an acknowledgement 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,” said Acting EEOC Dallas Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips. “Just as adherence to the dictates of one’s own conscience is not optional, so too an employer’s duty under Title VII is obligatory, and the EEOC stands ready to enforce that legal duty.”
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination because of religion and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation for an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs or practices unless doing so would cause an undue hardship on the business.
According to the EEOC, the agency filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
Chick-fil-A, which is known for closing all of its locations on Sundays, declined to comment Monday. A spokesperson clarified that, as a franchise business, all employment decisions are solely the responsibility of each individual restaurant owner and that Chick-fil-A, Inc. is not named in the lawsuit.
A Christian-identified denomination formed in 1995 by ministers and members who split from the Worldwide Church of God, the United Church of God (UCG) teaches, among other doctrines, the rejection of the Trinitarian doctrine. According to its teachings, passages mentioning the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (such as Matthew 28:19) describe their roles in baptism, creation, and salvation but do not establish them as co-equal and co-eternal persons in a triune God.
Greg Thomas, a recently-retired pastor from a congregation in Cleveland, Ohio, stated in one sermon on the UCG website: “People who want to believe in the Trinity will say, see, all three are mentioned as baptizing them in their name. Well, that may be true, and I’m certainly not disputing that, but that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is a co-equal divine presence that is part of a triune God. … The Scriptures acknowledge that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are essential in creation and in salvation, but that of itself does not prove that these three are co-equal and co-eternal.”
