In the Newsweek article “Chick-fil-A Could Be Forced to Open on Sundays”, Professor Gregory Germain provides legal analysis of the proposed New York State bill that would require fast-food restaurants at New York State Thruway rest stops to serve customers on all seven days.
The bill raises questions about what would happen if Chick-fil-A’s lease comes up for renewal.
What happens if “the government’s agency says they won’t renew unless Chick-fil-A agrees to operate seven days a week, and Chick-fil-A sues claiming that the law violates their religious principles?” Germain said.
“The governing Supreme Court authority would be Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 US 682 (2014), where the Court held that private corporations are ‘persons’ under the Affordable Care Act, and that the ACA violated HL’s religious principles by requiring them to pay for contraceptives for employees,” he explained.