Hungry Ghost Coffee Settles EEOC Religious Discrimination and Retaliation Suit

NEW YORK — Hungry Ghost Tribeca, LLC, doing business as Hungry Ghost Coffee, a New York City café chain, will pay $22,500 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a Muslim employee worked as a barista, and as part of his religious practice, fasts from sunrise to sunset during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. In March 2023, the employee asked his manager to approve a short-term daytime schedule and/or a pre-arranged, voluntary shift swap to accommodate his religious practice of breaking his fast at sunset. His manager not only denied the requests but then fired the employee for making them after he finished his next shift.

“We appreciate the defendant’s willingness to enter into an early resolution of this case, and to provide management with the necessary training to ensure reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious practices are provided unless doing so would cause an undue hardship,” said Kimberly Cruz, regional attorney of the EEOC’s New York District. “The EEOC is steadfast in its commitment to enforcing Title VII’s protections against religious discrimination.”

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Hungry Ghost Tribeca, LLC d/b/a Hungry Ghost Coffee, Case No. 1:26-cv-08533-LAP) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to paying monetary damages to the affected employee, the two-year consent decree settling the suit requires the company to review existing policies concerning accommodation of religious beliefs and provide training for employees and management across all its locations.

“Title VII protects workers of all faiths,” said Arlean Nieto, acting director of the EEOC’s New York District. “The EEOC will enforce the law when religious accommodations are denied and employees are punished for asking.”

For more information on religious discrimination and retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/religious-discrimination and https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s New York District Office has jurisdiction over Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.