Seventh-day Adventist awarded $300,000 in workplace accommodation case

July 5, 2006

(RNS) A former Seventh-day Adventist UPS deliveryman has been awarded more than $300,000 in a court decision affirming his right to religious accommodation to observe the Sabbath.

Todd Sturgill, 41, of Springdale, Ark., was employed by United Parcel Service when a dispute about workplace accommodation arose, the Adventist News Network reported.

On June 30, a U.S. federal district court in Fayetteville, Ark., awarded him $311,166.75 in lost wages and punitive damages. A UPS spokeswoman said the company may appeal the ruling.

Sturgill had been a driver for the company for 19 years when he joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in May 2004. That July, he asked his employer if he could refrain from work on Friday evenings during the holiday delivery season. Adventists observe the Sabbath from sunset on Friday through sunset on Saturday.

Sturgill was told he would receive no accommodation but made arrangements with co-workers to adjust his schedule until a Friday in mid-December in 2004. On that day, after repeated requests for assistance, Sturgill was not able to complete his work before sunset. He returned to the UPS center with about 35 undelivered parcels and went home. The following Monday he was fired.

The former deliveryman got a new job with a lower salary but stood by his convictions.

"Through all of this, my faith has grown," Sturgill told Adventist News Network. "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), ... I still would have been thankful for what I'd done, standing up for what I believe."

Lynnette McIntire, a UPS spokeswoman, said Sturgill's termination was upheld by a grievance panel that included UPS management and Teamsters union representatives.

"UPS disagrees with the jury's decision and is considering its options, including an appeal," she said. "UPS maintains Mr. Sturgill was terminated solely because he twice abandoned his job by refusing to complete deliveries and pickups and returned to the package center with undelivered packages. Sturgill's religion played no role in UPS' treatment of him, assignment of job duties, or the decision to terminate his employment."

-- Adelle M. Banks