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Catholic says Wal-Mart fired him for wanting Sundays off
October 16, 2008
Updated 12:12 p.m. ALBANY — A Rensselaer County man is suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. because he said the retail giant fired him because the devout Roman Catholic did not want to work Sundays. John F. Kennedy, 45, claims he was fired from the Sam's Club store in Latham because of his faith and is seeking $1 million in the suit, which was filed in state Supreme Court in Albany. He is being represented by attorney John Aretakis, a frequent critic of the Roman Catholic church who has filed several lawsuits against the Albany Diocese on behalf of people claiming they were sexually abused by priests. Kennedy claims he was fired after working there about a year after repeatedly complaining about being assigned to work Sundays. He said Wal-Mart officials were aware when they hired him in March 2007 that he did not want to work Sundays because of his faith. Wal-Mart claimed it fired Kennedy for misconduct, he admitted in the lawsuit, but the state Division of Human Rights upheld his claim of religious discrimination. "They knew I was a Roman Catholic and I believed I was fired because I wanted Sundays off," said Kennedy, a lifelong parishioner at St. Michael's Church in Troy who remains unemployed. Kennedy said he attends Mass every Sunday and helps care for an elderly parishioner who depends on him for rides. After church, he visits graves and has dinner with his elderly parents. He said he was forced to work on three Sundays in December 2007 during Advent, which he described as the second most holy time of the Christian year. "I explained to my supervisor, 'As long as you respect my wishes and I have my Sundays off, it would be fine,'" Kennedy explained. "I got the indication if I didn't work it would be a refusal to work." Aretakis acknowledged the irony of representing Kennedy, but pointed out that his past disputes have been with church officials, not the faith itself. "Personally for me this is an interesting opportunity to show that I have nothing but the highest regard for the Catholic church and I always have," Aretakis said. "My criticisms are with Bishop Hubbard and how he has handled the clergy abuse crisis." Get ALL of our news...Click here to subscribe to our online edition, a complete replica of our print edition.
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July 4, 2009
4:02 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
SO he never heard of saturday service????
7:57 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Work was made for man, not man for work.
Work does NOT come first before God to a good catholic. Sunday is the day chosen by God for worship and rest. Saturday is not. The bishops allow for saturday worship it is true, but it is meant to help those whose NECESSARY jobs such as police, health workers, etc may worship. That exception was not made for employers to abuse their workers.
Department stores are not NECESSARY on sundays.
I told my employers that I would not work on sundays at all. My employers respected that. Obviously there is a growing hostility to religion in general when more people are forced out of a job because of their faith.
11:41 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Truthfully, the day of the Sabbath was Saturday until the Catholic Church decided it was more convenient for the priests to do services on Sundays back in the 1400's. People really need to brush up on their Theology. It's not as bright and sunny as everyone thinks it is.
Another little tidbit: New York State is an at-will state. You can be fired at any time for any reason and you may also leave at any time for any reason. I feel this lawsuit won't hold up in court because everyone knows we are an "at-will" state. I'd hate to say it because I am not a fan of Wal*Mart but, Wal*Mart is a retail giant and there are many people out there looking for work. John is just a body on their payroll ... simple as that, and I doubt that it had anything to do with religion. I've known plenty of people that have worked at a Wal*Mart -AND- a Sam's Club location and on EVERY application it states Wal*Mart and Sam's Club Stores have the right to revoke employment at anytime if you cannot follow through with your availability. We are only hearing one side of this story. For all we know, John could have been hired under the pretenses that he had to work on Sundays, then decided he couldn't. That, in turn, would be a violation to the contract (application) he signed pertaining to availability.
6:51 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Sabbath actually refers to rest, not Saturday. The Old Testament is the testament of the old covenant, given through Moses. Jews began celebrating the Sabbath on Saturday, the day the old covenant was proclaimed (and the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath). The New Testament is the testament of the new covenant, which replaced the fulfilled old covenant by Jesus at the resurrection on the first day of the week (Sunday). Just as for the Jews, for Christians the 'Sabbath' (the Lord's day) came to be on the day the new covenant was invoked. Many things changed in the transition. Except for the parts maintained in the new, the rest of the old was revoked. In addition to Scripture, there are documents as early as the first century indicating worship on the Lord's Day. For more in-depth description, you can take a look at [http://www.gotquestions.org/Saturday-Sunday.html] and [http://www.catholic.com/library/Sabbath_or_Sunday.asp].
RaysWayz, the early Church was already referred to as the Catholic Church by the end of the first century as seen in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna. It still exists today after 2000 years. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit it has survived even the "unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy" from within, while protesters slide and divide at every changing and contradicting theology to suit individual wants and desires. Little if any of the original Protestant offshoot churches remain. [http://www.catholic.com/library/Pillar.asp]