The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Mississippi restaurant after a Christian waitress allegedly was fired for refusing to wear pants because of her faith.

In 2015, Kaetoya Watkins applied to be a server at a Georgia Blue restaurant in Flowood, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

She was offered the position and scheduled to begin work before learning that Georgia Blue had a dress code requiring employees to wear blue jeans, the lawsuit said.

Watkins, who identifies as an Apostolic Pentecostal Christian, told a manager that her religion “prevented her from wearing pants,” and asked to wear a blue jean skirt instead, the suit said.

After receiving no reply to her request, Watkins reported for work wearing a jean skirt and was sent home, according to the suit. The next day, she received a voicemail from her manager that said Georgia Blue’s owner had decided she “would not stray away from” its dress code policy. She never returned to work.

“Georgia Blue, LLC discriminated against Kaetoya Watkins by failing to reasonably accommodate her religious beliefs and practices, and denying her employment by rescinding its job offer or terminating her because of her religion,” the suit said.

Georgia Blue has four locations and a bakery in Mississippi, and sells its own vodka, salad dressings and other products.

In a statement, the company said: “Georgia Blue is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on any basis, including religious practices.”

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