In-N-Out Sunday Work Dispute Spurs Religion Suit

An In-N-Out Sunday work dispute has landed the California burger chain in court after a longtime employee said she was punished for keeping her Christian Sabbath routine. Arianna Rodriguez, who worked as a cook in Long Beach for nearly five years, says the company violated her religious rights when a new manager changed how her schedule was handled.

Rodriguez claims she had been assigned shifts that allowed her to attend church on Sundays without trouble for years. That changed, she says, after a new manager arrived in October. From that point on, her Sunday availability became a regular source of conflict at work, and she received what she says was her first disciplinary write-up during that period.

By December, Rodriguez says she had taken her concerns up the management chain. She says she raised the schedule changes, her church attendance and what she viewed as unfair treatment. The lawsuit says she felt ignored as the dispute continued inside the restaurant.

The conflict escalated months later, according to the filing. On June 24, Rodriguez says an incident involving food put her in trouble. She says she believed the conduct amounted to food waste, based on practices she had seen before at the restaurant. In-N-Out then referred the matter to human resources, suspended her and opened an investigation, she alleges.