For nearly three years, a part-time security guard in New Orleans built his life around a predictable tradeoff: he’d work the shifts the company needed, and he’d keep Sundays free for church. Then, he says, the schedule changed—suddenly and in a way that put his job on a collision course with his faith.
That’s the heart of a new federal lawsuit announced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, laid out in the agency’s release about the case. The EEOC alleges The Cogar Group, a security services company based in Fairfax, Virginia, refused to accommodate the worker’s Sunday religious obligations and effectively forced his resignation.
Three years of one schedule, then a sudden weekend switch
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee worked part-time in New Orleans and had Sundays off from March 2021 through early 2024. That kind of consistency matters in security work, where schedules can be the whole job—especially if you’re piecing income together around other responsibilities.
In February 2024, the EEOC says the company told him his schedule would change to Saturday and Sunday. Weekends are prime coverage days in many security posts, but the worker told his supervisor the change would interfere with his religious beliefs…