When high school senior Ashanti McShan was hired as a cashier by a Burger King in Grand Prairie, Texas, she explained that her religious beliefs required her to wear a skirt or dress to work. A company official told McShan that she didn’t have to wear pants during her shifts. So the Pentecostal woman showed up for her first day of orientation in August 2010 wearing a skirt. The franchise manager, however, said the skirt was unacceptable and that she had to leave. McShan then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is now suing Burger King on McShan’s behalf for failing to reasonably accommodate her religious beliefs.

Pentecostals base their opposition to women wearing pants on Deuteronomy 22:5, which states, ”The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man.”

The corporate motto of Burger King is “Have it your way.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Burger King Sued For Discrimination After Allegedly Firing Pentecostal Christian For Wearing Skirt (by Meredith Bennett-Smith, Huffington Post)

Burger King Accused of Firing Woman Over Skirt (Courthouse News Service)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fries Restaurant Management (U.S. District Court, Northern Texas) (pdf)