Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 383814_pub.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 383814_pub.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/383814_pub.pdf ↗

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superintendent for six days off for religious purposes—September 28 and September 29,

as originally requested, and October 12, 13, 19, and 20. The superintendent denied the

first two (September 28 and September 29) for insufficient notice, but granted the other

four. This amounted to nine days in one year of approved time off for religious purposes.

Rather than accept this decision, Ms. Suarez worked September 28 (a Saturday)

and, with only hours’ notice, informed the School she would not be working September

29 (Rosh Hashanah)—one of the seven Holy Days recognized by the Jewish faith. Soon

after, the School terminated her probationary status because of her history of missing

2
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
No. 38381-4-III
Suarez v. State—dissenting

mandatory overtime without justification and because of her choice, with only hours’

notice, to not work on September 29.

1. Undue burden to accommodate the September 29 absence

The majority concludes that summary judgment is precluded because a reasonable

jury might find that the School, without undue burden, could have accommodated Ms.

Suarez’s absence on September 29. In so concluding, the majority ignores the fact that

the accommodation conflicts with the parties’ CBA and would give Ms. Suarez a benefit

over other employees with more seniority. Specifically, the CBA permits all employees

two days of annual unpaid leave for religious purposes. Here, Ms. Suarez had months

earlier received five days of annual unpaid leave for religious purposes and September 29

would have been the sixth day. Accommodating a sixth day would provide Ms. Suarez a

benefit over other employees who otherwise would not have had to work that shift. For