Announcement
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JUNE 30th 2006
UNITED STATES: FEDERAL COURT RULES FOR SABBATH-KEEPING
WORKER
Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States ....
[Mark A. Kellner/ANN]
| Seventh-day
Adventist Church members Judi
and Todd Sturgill smile after
Todd's federal court ruling
June 30, 2006, in favor of his
rights as a Sabbath-keeper.
Photo courtesy Kester Law Firm] |
|
A United States federal district court in Fayetteville,
Arkansas, has ruled for a Seventh-day Adventist
who sought accommodation for his Sabbath-keeping
beliefs. The worker was awarded U.S. $311,166.75
in lost wages and punitive damages. It is believed
to be one of the few such cases in which punitive
damages - designed to "reform or deter
the defendant," as one definition puts
it - have been awarded to a Sabbath-keeper.
Todd Sturgill, age 41 and a resident of Springdale,
Arkansas, was a 19-year driver for United Parcel
Service when he joined the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in May of 2004. In July of that year,
Sturgill asked his employer for accommodation
on Friday evenings during the upcoming holiday
delivery season. After three months, Sturgill
was told he would receive no accommodation.
Though Sturgill was happy to perform his job,
his conviction about observing the Biblical
Sabbath on the seventh day of the week - which
begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset
on the Sabbath, or Saturday - would not allow
him to perform work during that time.
Despite these roadblocks, Sturgill was able
to make arrangements with his coworkers to adjust
his schedule and keep the Sabbath until Friday,
Dec. 17, 2004. On that day, despite repeated
requests for assistance and accommodation, managers
at the firm took no steps to enable Sturgill
to complete his work before sundown, and he
returned to the UPS center with roughly 35 undelivered
parcels, and then went home. He was fired the
following Monday for what UPS called "job
abandonment."
The resulting hardships hit Sturgill, his wife
Judi and their two children directly. Finding
work as a mortgage broker, Sturgill saw his
salary cut by two-thirds. He said he had to
"cash in" his retirement savings,
and borrow money to make ends meet during this
time.
However, he added, the course of events did
not diminish his convictions in obeying God.
"Through all of this, my faith has grown.
Maybe a lot of people might want to try and
blame God for what happened, but I wouldn't
change a thing. If I had lost [in court] today,
I still would have been thankful for what I'd
done, standing up for what I believe,"
he told Adventist News Network in a telephone
interview.
| Attorneys
Charles M. Kester of Kester
Law Firm, Fayetteville, Arkansas;
retired Adventist associate
general counsel Mitchell A.
Tyner and (far right) associate
general counsel Todd McFarland
flank former UPS driver Todd
Sturgill, who won a civil rights
case in a United States federal
court on June 30, 2006. [Photo
courtesy Kester Law Firm] |
|
The June 30 ruling supports an earlier federal
court case in which an auto salesman in Arkansas,
who was not a Seventh-day Adventist, won the
right to have his Sabbatarian beliefs accommodated.
"While we are gratified over today's outcome,
one message is clear," said Todd McFarland,
associate general counsel for the Seventh-day
Adventist world church. "The United States
needs to enact the Workplace Religious Freedom
Act to safeguard the rights of working people."
Joining McFarland in this case were Fayetteville
attorney Charles M. Kester of the Kester Law
Firm, and now-retired associate general counsel
Mitchell A. Tyner, who previously handled religious
liberty issues for the world church. Tyner noted
that offerings from Seventh-day Adventist members
in North America played a part in bringing the
Sturgill case to this victory.
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church takes
an annual religious liberty offering throughout
North America," Tyner said, "and part
of it goes into a litigation fund for church
members with religious liberty difficulties.
Todd lost his job, and two-thirds of his income.
If we had not been there to carry the ball,
UPS would have gotten away with it."
From its founding in 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist
Church has vigorously sought to defend religious
freedom for all people, including Sabbath-keepers.
Today, the church works globally to protect
those rights.
Source:
Adventist News Network |
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