In-n-Out Sued for Religious Discrimination and Wrongful Termination by Christian

In-n-Out, a California burger joint famous for its burgers and publicly known to be a Christian company, is now being sued by a former employee for religious discrimination. The irony is that In-n-Out is a family-owned Christian company, but it is now being accused of discriminating against former employee Arianna Rodriguez for her Christian faith. In fact, In-n-Out’s CEO Lynsi Snyder has publicly discussed her Christian faith in both her professional and personal life. In-n-Out even prints Christian Bible verses on its cups, food wrappers, and fry boats.

According to the lawsuit, Ms. Rodriguez worked at a Long Beach In-n-Out as a cook for nearly five years. During that time, Ms. Rodriguez was given a work schedule that accommodated her Christian religion by allowing her to attend church on Sundays. In addition, she had no disciplinary issues for nearly the entire time.

However, all this quickly changed when a new manager entered the picture in October of 2025. Under the new management, it became apparent that Ms. Rodriguez’ long-standing request for Sundays off was going to be a problem. The new manager was not receptive to continuing to honor Mrs. Rodriguez’ request.

A few weeks later in December of 2025, Ms. Rodriguez’s new manager was still refusing to honor her religious accommodation, and she complained about her new manager’s refusal to recognize her religious accommodation with management. Ms. Rodriguez’ concerns were ignored, and the new manager made it clear Ms. Rodriguez’ long-standing request for religious accommodation would no longer be honored.

In June of 2026, Ms. Rodriguez was reported to Human Resources for actions she took with food that she believed to be standard “waste under the workplace practice.” She was immediately put under suspension and investigated. As a result, she was fired on July 3, 2026 for actions she believes other employees, who engaged in a similar action, would have received warnings for.

This case is interesting because In-n-Out is a fast food restaurant that regularly discusses the Christian background of its owners. The company is also famous for its Christian Bible verses placed on its packaging. However, despite its open and public belief in Christianity, In-n-Out is now being sued for discrimination by an ex-employee for In-n-Out’s failure to accommodate her Christian religion. It will be interesting to see what happens in this case, as it turns what we conventionally believe to be religious discrimination on its head. Surely, most people would not believe that a Christian company could be accused of (or even found liable for) discriminating against its own Christian employee.