According to Capital News 9, a man asked off Sundays from his job from Sam’s Club, owned by Wal Mart.
Meet John F. Kennedy, who got a job in March of 2007 with Sam’s Club. All he wanted was Sundays off so he could attend Roman Catholic Mass as he’s done since childhood.
I take care of an elderly retired brother for rides to and from church and he’s also a devout Roman Catholic.,” Kennedy said.
But as time went on, he says he found himself having to work the one day a week he wanted off for church.
“They basically insinuated if I didn’t work those days, they would dismiss me,” Kennedy said.
“Fire you?” our reporter asked.
“Yes,” Kennedy replied.
The guy is suing for major major bucks which seems a little silly but I think the issue is a real one.
It seems to me, however, that he probably should’ve brought the issue up when he was first hired. But in a general sense I think companies should probably try their darnedest to allow their workers off to go to church, synagogue or wherever. We’re a long way from the movie Chariots of Fire where the runner wouldn’t run on Sunday. As less and less people are serious about their faith, companies, I believe, will become less tolerant of religious observation requests.
Hey congratulate me, I got through that whole post without doing some sort of awful pun with the guy’s name. No “Ask not what Wal-Mart can do for you” or nothing. I was very self restrained.
October 18, 2008 at 4:45 am
“…he probably should’ve brought the issue up when he was first hired.”
And if he converted after he was hired, he shouldn’t be complaining?
Does this make any sense?
October 18, 2008 at 5:15 am
I applaud this man’s convictions. But I don’t approve of the them of his argument, any more than I approve of a Muslim who demands he gets 3 extra breaks a day for prayer, or a Hindu who demands an untouchable-free workplace etc. This is a free market economy, which means if this guy does not get his Sundays off, he is free to lodge a compliant (as it appears he is doiong), organize his other workers with similar demands, or better yet say, “thank you Sam’s club, I am now going down the street to get a job at K-Mart”.
As a manager, I have been in situations where a Jewish employee stayed home on a very important day of a planned meeting without so much as advising any of us. The next day, she came in like nothing had happened and when confronted said, “It was Rosh Hashana. It’s a Jewish Holiday so I took it off.” To which I said, OK, I’ll deduct it from your personal days (although she had none left). She protested saying that since she was Jewish it was discriminatory for her not to get it off, and that she would even gladly work on Christmas day (big lie there) and even took the matter to HR. The point is, employers can never please all their employees so they have to come up with a “happy medium” regarding work days, holidays, benefits etc. And it’s not right that certain employees think THEIR wishes are more important than the rest. Even if they happen to be Catholic. In fact, Catholics should know better.
October 18, 2008 at 7:15 am
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October 18, 2008 at 7:18 am
Hi. Long time reader, not a commenter (usually).
I work for Sam’s Club over the summer (I’m a student most of the time), and when I applied to work there I noted that I wanted Sundays off. They gave them to me with no problem at all – in fact, the other employees thought I was crazy because Sundays count for time and a half!
I found Sam’s to be very respectful of any requests, especially reasonable ones.
I suppose this man’s experience was different, but that’s my two cents.
– Alex, Pittsburgh, PA
October 18, 2008 at 12:46 pm
On the flip side, i just received an e-mail from our CEO that Halloween decorations with demons or ghosts is not permitted in our Adventist hospital.
October 19, 2008 at 12:55 am
We really shouldn’t be surprised by any of this. Many Christians spend their Sundays working around the house, running errands, and other assorted activities. So if even observant Christians aren’t using Sundays to honor God, why should businesses miss an opportunity to make a buck?
I feel for this guy, but most of the blame for this state of affairs belongs to us Christians. Even if we have Sundays off, we need to remember that even when we go out to eat, somebody is still working (although I do admit going to the kosher bakery to pick up garlic bagels after Mass from time to time).
October 19, 2008 at 1:23 am
I’m not privy to his individual situation, but do they have Saturday Night Vigils where he lives (one would figure he could get Sat evening or Sun Morning off.) My Godmother and her spouse attended them just so they wouldn’t have to on Sunday Morning. Maybe I need to work at Sam’s; then I’d have a formidable reason to break the Sunday obligation (the musical liturgy can get rather folksy and less than reverential, sad to say.)
October 19, 2008 at 2:18 am
As a Catholic Christian, is it not wrong to work unnecessarily on Sunday, whether or not you have gone to Saturday Vigil?
October 19, 2008 at 3:07 pm
You were very restrained in the pun department. Now maybe you could refrain from saying “less and less people” when you mean “fewer and fewer people”.
October 19, 2008 at 4:25 pm
How about we go back to closing up these businesses on Sunday. It worked when I was growing up. The only thing open was an emergency pharmacy.
And please don’t use the tired argument that “it’s the only time I have to shop”. Most big box stores are open 24/7…
October 20, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Interesting that Chariots of Fire should be mentioned. Eric Liddel, a Scottish runner, withdraws from a race because it is to be held on Sunday. In the movie he is pressured to run by the King himself, and someone comments, “In my day it was King first and God after.” Nowadays we have McCain and Palin campaigning under the slogan “Country First.” But this is completely wrong. God first, then family, then country.