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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conflicts with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), thereby giving

a plaintiff a benefit over other employees with more seniority, is an undue burden that is

not required to be accommodated. Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63,

79, 97 S. Ct. 2264, 53 L. Ed. 2d 113 (1977).

1
Ms. Suarez’s tort claim that the School violated public policy is founded on the
public policy expressed in the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD),
chapter 49.60 RCW. Because her statutory discrimination claim fails, so does her tort
claim.
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
No. 38381-4-III
Suarez v. State—dissenting

Here, the School has a CBA that provides employees two days off per year for

religious purposes. The agreement, however, requires employees to request days off at

least 14 days in advance. The apparent reason for this is to give the School sufficient

time to find an employee to cover the missed shift and to permit the covering employee

time to adjust their personal plans. A last minute request for days off not only

inconveniences the School, it impacts employees who need to alter their personal plans.

By April 2019, the School had permitted Ms. Suarez five days off for religious

purposes, three more than permitted by the CBA. On September 8, 2019, Ms. Suarez

requested four additional days off for religious purposes—September 28 and 29, and

October 5 and 6. Her immediate supervisor had no authority to grant this request because

Ms. Suarez had exceeded the two days permitted under the CBA. Her supervisor

recommended Ms. Suarez make her request to the School superintendent. She failed to

promptly do this. Instead, Ms. Suarez waited until September 27 and asked the