16 October 2019 | An Adventist security guard has filed a lawsuit against his former employer in Los Angeles, claiming he was forced to work on Sabbath.

According to MyNewsLA, Luis Lomel’s lawsuit claims unspecified damages and accuses Universal Protection Service LP of religious discrimination, failure to prevent religious discrimination and harassment, and wrongful constructive termination. It was filed October 3 in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

MyNewsLA reports that Lomel was already working for the security firm when he became an Adventist in 2017. According to the lawsuit, he asked the company for Friday evenings and Saturdays off in January 2018, submitting letters from pastors in February and April 2018 to bolster the request.

Allegedly, the company’s human resources and operations manager met with Lomel. The Adventist claims to have presented the manager with three options, one of which involved another employee who was willing to trade schedules to give Lomel Friday nights and Saturdays off.

According to the lawsuit, months passed with no schedule changes and, when Lomel tried to interview for another job, he was not cleared. MyNewsLA states that, according to the lawsuit, Lomel’s supervisor demeaned him, saying that by working on the Sabbath, he was committing blasphemy. The supervisor allegedly joked that this act was punishable by death. The suit also claims that Lomel was ordered to clean the restroom most of the time even when the duty was supposed to be assigned on rotation.

MyNewsLA reports that Lomel resigned December 12 last year following “months of losing sleep and suffering mental anguish.”

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