Pagan sues Panera Bread Company alleging religious discrimination [View all]

A former baker for the chain said she was told that she “needed to find God," according to a court filing.

March 27, 2021
By Heather Greene

(RNS) — A Pennsylvania woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday (March 24) against Panera Bread Company, alleging that she was discriminated against and fired due to her Pagan beliefs.

Tammy McCoy of Clairton, Pennsylvania, was hired as a baker at the Panera location in nearby Pleasant Hills, a Pittsburgh suburb, in October 2019. According to the filing, she “never discussed her religion or religious beliefs at work” because she felt the subject was private.

Paganism is an umbrella term used for a number of different growing religious and spiritual practices centered on nature and magic.

According to the lawsuit, the subject of McCoy’s religion came up in late May of 2020, when McCoy was on break with the store’s assistant manager, Lori Show, and the manager, Kerri Ann Dubs. Show asked McCoy what her religion was, and Tammy responded, “I am Pagan.”

Show reportedly responded by telling McCoy that that she was going to hell and Dubs “vigorously nodded her head in agreement.”

MORE: https://religionnews.com/2021/03/27/pagan-sues-panera-bread-company-alleging-religious-discrimination/