Shirley Lester was fired by Goodwill after becoming a Seventh-day Adventist and refusing to work Saturday shifts because of her religious beliefs. She had accumulated disciplinary points for earlier absences and then missed four Saturday shifts when Goodwill would not guarantee Saturdays off or accommodate her request except through employee substitutions. The Department of Labor denied her unemployment benefits, finding that her absences were personal and within her control, and the superior court affirmed. The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed and remanded. Reviewing the agency decision for legal error rather than reweighing facts, the court held that the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and controlling Supreme Court precedent prohibited disqualifying Lester from benefits because she followed a sincere religious practice. In Hobbie, the Supreme Court held that denying benefits after an employee adopted the same Saturday-observance belief burdened religious exercise, and Lester’s facts materially paralleled that decision. Although the superior court emphasized her earlier disciplinary points and failure to find shift coverage, the hearing officer’s decision rested on her change in availability after taking the job. The court concluded that she would not have been fired but for the Saturday absences and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.