The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation and Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc. for allegedly failing to accommodate a sales executive’s religious observance of the Sabbath, the agency announced Wednesday.
The lawsuit claims the timeshare companies initially allowed the employee, a Seventh-Day Adventist, to avoid Saturday shifts but later revoked the accommodation following a management change.
Accommodation dispute
According to the EEOC, after new management took over, the companies began scheduling the employee for Saturday shifts despite her religious beliefs. When she complained, the companies allegedly altered her schedule in ways that negatively affected her sales and commissions while continuing to assign her Saturday shifts.
The situation ultimately forced the employee to choose between her job and religious practice, leading to her resignation, the EEOC said.
Legal framework
The lawsuit alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for religious practices unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida after conciliation attempts failed, the case (EEOC v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp., et al., Case No. 6:25-cv-00790-PGB-DCI) seeks to enforce religious accommodation requirements.
“Employers need to remember that religious rights are not second-class rights, but rather part of our nation’s first principles,” said EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. “Employers should take compliance with religious accommodation requirements under Title VII as seriously as compliance with their disability and pregnancy accommodations obligations: very seriously.”
Legal obligations
EEOC officials emphasized employers’ responsibilities under the law.
“Under Title VII, employers must provide reasonable religious accommodations unless there is an undue burden,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Kristen Foslid. “Employers have a duty to work with their employees to attempt to find an accommodation and cannot revoke an accommodation without justification.”
The agency’s Tampa Field Office Director Tamra Schweiberger added, “Employers must respect employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs, and it is the EEOC’s job to ensure employees can earn a living while adhering to those beliefs.”
The EEOC’s Miami District Office, which includes Tampa and San Juan locations, has jurisdiction over Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
