Darrell Littrell, a Seventh-day Adventist living in Asheville, North Carolina, was offered a job as a donut maker at a Citi Brands, a manufacturing facility of Dunkin Donuts near Arden, North Carolina. When the plant manager offered him the job Littrell was told he would start work the next day at 3pm on Friday. Littrell was in difficulty. As a Seventh-day Adventist, Littrell keeps Saturday holy because it is the Bible Sabbath. This means that he does not work between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.
When he told the plant manager his convictions, the manager rescinded the job offer, which eventually led to a lawsuit filed against Dunkin Donuts by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC tried to reach a voluntary settlement through an administrative conciliation process first, to no avail.
“The legal action is seeking back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for Littrell, as well as injunctive and other non-monetary relief.”
“Employers should be mindful that it is against the law to discriminate against an applicant or an employee based on his religion, including the observance of the Sabbath,” said Lynette Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte district. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from refusing to hire people because of their religion, and requires employers to make an effort at a reasonable accommodation for sincerely held religious beliefs.”
For the time being U.S. law defends sincerely held religious belief. That will change one day and Sabbath-keepers will come under economic and legal pressure if they refuse to compromise the Sabbath.
Comments
John Hubbard
Saturday September 20th, 2014 at 10:25 AMWell done Darrell, keep the faith, God is with you.
May the world know there is a God in heaven, and He requires obedience.
Joseph
Saturday September 20th, 2014 at 10:33 AMThe legal action against Dunk in’ Donuts must be put right and the compensation must be paid to the Sabbath observer employee or reinstated.
Lesley
Saturday September 20th, 2014 at 02:11 PMWhilst i sympathise, i dont think he should have taken them to court. This will make it harder for SDAs to find work. God could have found him a better, more appropriate job.
Domonic
Monday September 22nd, 2014 at 08:28 AMI am new to avantizem, however I belive that if he took D’nD’s to court this is a form of revenge, which is a action taken after anger is felt. thus I ask, is this action a sin? or is it a work of God.
Oliver
Tuesday September 23rd, 2014 at 07:33 AMDon’t eat, buy and spend any dollar y Dunkin Donuts…
Gabriel Amores
Thursday September 25th, 2014 at 01:48 AMI agree with Pastor Hal Mayer’s article on Mr. Darrell Littrell. He is a Christian and he should be given respect to his believe to keep the Sabbath as the Sabbath is the law of God we should obey.
Additionally, the “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 further protects his right a a citizen of that country to respect his believe.
Irene
Friday September 26th, 2014 at 05:13 AMJesus never sought punitive damages . Should His followers do so?
vickie
Friday September 26th, 2014 at 09:29 PMI was hire for a job that i loved they hire me knowing that i will not work on sundown-friday to sundown saturday. i did not have any troubles for two years, until they hire a new boss and then i start having troubles i than look for another job to go.i do know how Evil Look at you with Hate And persecution,JESUS did warn us about this HE said because of ME they will hate you the world Hate HIM first.and now the world Hate us.lets pray and get ready,we have been told to get ready,there is more persecutions coming for GOD people,a reminder stay faithful and no compromises.
Psalm19
Tuesday September 30th, 2014 at 08:57 AMUnfortunately, Pastor Mayer and Mr. Littrell are way off base on this one. Whenever I have applied for ANY job, I have always included a cover letter detailing my qualifications, but also mentioning the fact that I am a practicing Sabbath-keeper and I am not available between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. It has helped me get jobs and it has prevented me from getting jobs, but being honest and up front is ALWAYS the best route. For example, as a business owner, it would bother me to hire someone to work Monday through Friday and THEN be told that my new employee was Muslim and couldn’t work on Fridays. Worse yet are the employees who have worked Sabbath for years and then become Adventists. As the parable in Matthew 20 shows us, our contract with our employer is “signed” when we are hired. The employee is not allowed to change it any more than the employer is.
admin
Tuesday September 30th, 2014 at 09:09 PM“We report on prophetic news, mostly without our own opinions. We reserve opinion, usually, for our sermons and even that is typically quite well supported in our documentation. Sabbath work has always been a key issue in religious liberty in the United States. US law is what it is, and it does defend a man like Littrell, whether he followed the best procedure or not. These sorts of cases, for better or for worse, highlight religious liberty issues. Whether Mr. Littrell is right or wrong was not the point of our post. We did quote the EEOC spokesman’s opinion because it was the basis for the action taken. We believe our readers should know about the case, regardless of the merits or opinions of others on the man who is its subject. Christian Greetings, Pastor Mayer”
Annete
Wednesday October 1st, 2014 at 01:12 AMWell said Pastor Mayer. I appreciate you keeping us abreast of world events and Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy says to me that Jesus loves us so much that He wants us to know what is coming in the future and inspite of the trials and tribulations, we can/will be kept by the power of the Holy Spirit! By His grace, let’s “keep the faith”! We are almost Home! Maranatha…!
Shirley Thrush
Wednesday October 1st, 2014 at 07:20 PMDarrell should have told the manager when he filled put the application that he would not work on sabbath hours.
Then the manager could have either not hired him and God would have found him a better job. It is not right for Darrell to take the company to court. If he did not do this he would have gotten a better job. Are we to take companies to court when we do not be up front when we can not work this never would have happened.
Darrell needs to trust God.