Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Disclaimer: I am not a disgruntled former employee. I've invested a significant amount of thought before seeking legal advice and possible legal action.

I was fired from a recent job. During both of my interviews, it was explicitly established that I could have Sunday mornings off so I could attend church, as I have been for about 15 years now. On the day of orientation, I was forced to have completely open availability; one of my supervisors refused to allow me to submit an availability schedule that included Sunday mornings off.

I was scheduled to work for several Sunday mornings. I talked to the main manager at the store I worked, and asked him if I could have those days off and reminded him about our agreement. He told me to not come in and to submit a schedule change. I didn't show for those Sunday mornings, however my schedule change was declined and I was issued a verbal warning. I talked to the manager again and informed him my schedule change was declined, and he told me to submit another one. Again, it was declined, six days later. I kept getting scheduled to work Sunday mornings. I talked to him a third time, and finally, my schedule change was accepted. I had Sunday mornings off (supposedly).

I refused to attend work during Sunday mornings. I kept reminding my supervisors and managers about my schedule, but after receiving multiple verbal warnings, I called human resources and asked them for assistance. Once my managers found out I called human resources, they stopped giving me normal hours and retaliated by scheduling me to work only on Sundays during church. Once, when I wasn't scheduled to work Sunday mornings, I was scheduled to work the graveyard shift leading up to Sunday morning.

I talked to my managers and supervisors about this, and they carelessly said, "There's nothing we can do about that." I got frustrated and had a one-on-one with the main manager. He mocked and laughed at me, stating that it wasn't his problem. When I inquired about why he declined my schedule change on multiple occasions, he said, verbatim, "Someone else must've gone onto the system and declined it, because I wouldn't do that." When I was notified about the declination of my schedule change, it stated that it was he who declined it.

I was becoming impatient, called human resources a second time, and they gave me the same answer: "We can't do anything about it," and continued to tell me that my supervisors were shifting the blame for their actions onto me, for reasons I inquired but not answered.

Finally, I wasn't scheduled for to work for (if my memory is correct) at 17 days consecutively, was scheduled to work a Sunday morning shift, and was fired once I refused to attend.

Isn't this illegal? I talked to several friends who are somewhat knowledgeable about law, and they told me about "wrongful termination by means of retaliation." I even talked to another third-party human resource worker in a nearby city, and she told me that this activity was illegal. What can I do? Although this was months ago, I don't want this to go unpunished.

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