130 Muslim workers fired over unauthorized breaks during Ramadan

[Volokh, Eugene]

	Doug's analysis may well be quite right, but let me ask this:
Does it matter whether (1) the sunset lunch break is seen by Muslims as
a religious exercise or (2) the sunset lunch break is seen by Muslims as
a way of avoiding discomfort and possible health problems that may stem
from not eating after a religious fast, but the break is not itself seen
as a religious exercise?

	Eugene

> On Sep 11, 2008, at 12:03 PM, Douglas Laycock wrote:
> 
> > A typically garbled press account, with paragraphs that sound like 
> > they're from two different disputes.  So it's hard to tell what's 
> > really going on.
> >
> > But if the dispute is really just about a lunch break at 
> sunset, it's 
> > a pretty straightforward Title VII accommodation claim.  Hard to 
> > imagine what Swift's undue hardship would be if that standard were 
> > taken seriously.  Hard to imagine even what a de minimis hardship 
> > would be if nearly the whole work force is Muslim.  If 
> there are also 
> > lots of non-Muslim workers, Swift might claim it has scheduling 
> > problems.  It sounds like at this point they made no effort to 
> > accommodate and don't give a damn, but of course they don't have to 
> > explain their legal position to a reporter.
> >
> > Quoting "Volokh, Eugene" <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>:
> >
> > > From
> > > http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/10/swift-company-
> > fires-10
> > > 0-workers/:
> > >
> > > At least 130 Muslim workers at the north Greeley JBS Swift & Co.  
> > plant
> > > were fired Wednesday afternoon, apparently over a dispute 
> involving 
> > > breaks during Ramadan....
> > >
> > > At issue is a request by Muslim workers to be able to take their
> > lunch
> > > breaks at sunset to end their fast during Ramadan.
> > >
> > > United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 spokesman Manny
> > Gonzales said
> > > that between 130 to 150 workers from JBS Swift & Co. had 
> been fired.
> > >
> > > The firings appear to be related to the walkout of as many as 300
> > Muslim
> > > employees Friday. Many of the workers had been suspended after
> > walking
> > > off the job before their shifts ended....
> > >
> > > But many of the workers who gathered at a Greeley park Tuesday
> > expressed
> > > their dissatisfaction with negotiations by saying, "No prayer, no
> > work."
> > >
> > > Swift spokeswoman Tamara Smid said in a written statement 
> that the 
> > > workers were told they would be fired if they didn't report to
> > work when
> > > recalled. Smid didn't specify how many workers were fired. ...
> > >
> > > Any thoughts?
> > >
> > > Eugene
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > Douglas Laycock
> > Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law University of Michigan Law 
> > School
> > 625 S. State St.
> > Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
> >   734-647-9713
> >
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