I have no sympathy for him.
My dad ran his own business and had to be on call 365 days per year. He often had to go out on major holidays. It was the nature of the job.
Pizza Hut may be a crappy restaurant but it’s still a restaurant. A lot of food service businesses are open on thanksgiving. This isn’t the same as opening stores on the holiday.
If doesn’t want to work in thanksgiving he shouldn’t work in the good service industry
He wasted a good ten year position being stubborn. This was a corporate decision, not his decision. When you get into a power struggle with a large entity or corporation, expect to get bruised, bloodied and maybe discarded too, for insubordination. Now he will learn what others his age know about how hard it is to find work. I suspect he will find another restaurant job, but not at the same pay just yet.
Bad Move Bub, now go eat Crow, or Turkey.