A Charlotte IHOP franchise will pay $40,000 to settle claims of religious discrimination and retaliation.
Suncakes NC, LLC, a North Carolina-based company, and Suncakes, LLC, a Texas-based company doing business as IHOP, will pay $40,000 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday.
The IHOP store at 134 W. Woodlawn Road in Charlotte hired the employee in January 2021, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. The EEOC filed the lawsuit in May 2023 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
The cook, a Christian, had requested and was granted a religious accommodation to not work on Sundays.
But three months later, a new general manager “expressed hostility toward the accommodation and required the employee to work” on two Sundays on April 25 and May 9 in 2021, according to the EEOC lawsuit. When the cook told the manager he would no longer work on Sundays because of his religious beliefs, he was fired.
The manager told other employees “religion should not take precedence over (the employee’s) job” and the cook “thinks it is more important to go to church than to pay his bills,” according to the lawsuit.
The IHOP franchise was found by the EEOC to have violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides for religious accommodations in the workplace and protects individuals from religious discrimination and retaliation.
“Requesting an accommodation for a religious observation is protected activity under federal law,” Melinda Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District, said in a statement Tuesday. “And employers are prohibited from taking adverse employment action against an employee for exercising that right.”
U.S. District court Judge Max Ogburn Jr. ordered the IHOP franchise to pay $40,000 to the employee within 15 days, court documents show.
The IHOP also must hold annual training for managers, post a notice to employees about the settlement and revise its policies to include protection for religious accommodations. The policies will be posted at all of Suncakes’ 17 IHOP locations in North Carolina.
“Religious discrimination is intolerable,” Taittiona Miles, lead trial attorney for the case, said in a statement Tuesday. “Employers must respect all sincerely held religious beliefs, which includes providing reasonable accommodations when no undue hardship exists.”
Suncakes has 36 IHOP restaurants in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, according to the company. In 2020, Sun Holdings Inc., led by CEO Guillermo Perales, acquired the franchise.
Sun Holdings has over 1,800 restaurants in 27 states with brands including Applebee’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Papa John’s and Popeye’s, according to the company website.
Officials with Suncakes did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.