Trans World Airlines (TWA), an airline, operated a large maintenance and overhaul base for its
airplanes in Kansas City, Missouri. Because of its essential role, the stores department at the base
operated 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The employees at the base were represented by the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (Union). TWA and Union
entered into a collective bargaining agreement that included a seniority system for the
assignment of jobs and shifts.
TWA hired Larry Hardison to work as a clerk in the stores department. Soon after beginning
work, Hardison joined the Worldwide Church of God, which does not allow its members to work
from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday and on certain religious holidays. Hardison, who
had the second-lowest seniority within the stores department, did not have enough seniority to
observe his Sabbath regularly. When Hardison asked for special consideration, TWA offered to
allow him to take his Sabbath off if he could switch shifts with another employee-union member.
None of the other employees would do so. TWA refused Hardison’s request for a four-day
workweek because it would have had to hire and train a part-time worker to work on Saturdays
or incur the cost of paying overtime to an existing full-time worker on Saturdays. Hardison sued
TWA for religious discrimination, in violation of Title VII. Do TWA’s actions violate Title VII?
Who wins? Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63, 97 S.Ct. 2264, 1977 U.S. Lexis 115
(Supreme Court of the United States)