Opuku-Boateng v. State of California

Kwasi Opuku-Boateng (plaintiff) was a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. As such, Opuku-Boateng was not supposed to work on the Sabbath, which was Saturday. In 1982, Opuku-Boateng was appointed as a plant inspector at the border-inspection station in Yermo, California. The Yermo station operated seven days a week, 24 hours per day, and split the day into three work shifts. All inspectors were required to work an equal number of undesirable weekend, holiday, and night shifts. In order to avoid working on the Sabbath, Opuku-Boateng offered to work other undesirable shifts, such as on Sundays, nights, and holidays, or to trade shifts with others on a voluntary basis. The Yermo station negotiated with representatives from Opuku-Boateng’s church, and a supervisor conducted an informal poll to determine whether voluntary shift-trading would work. The poll revealed that no one was willing to trade with Opuku-Boateng on a regular basis, but the poll’s wording was faulty. The Yermo station subsequently told Opuku-Boateng that his request for religious accommodation could not be granted, and his application was rejected. Opuku-Boateng sued the State of California (the state) (defendant) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). After trial, the district court entered judgment for the state, concluding that the proposed accommodations would create an undue hardship. Opuku-Boateng appealed.