Kroger Ordered To Pay $180,000 To Workers Who Were Fired After Refusing To Wear LGBTQ+ Pride Symbols
Kroger has been ordered to pay $180,000 to two former employees who were fired for refusing to wear an apron with a
“multicolored heart on it,”
which they believed represented an LGBTQ+ symbol, Insider reports.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit on behalf of the two employees who claim that Kroger refused to acknowledge their religious beliefs. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Brenda Lawson and Trudy Rickerd on September 14, 2020, after they were let go from Kroger in Conway, Arkansas.
“Defendant Employer refused to consider Lawson’s request for a religious accommodation for her sincerely held religious belief,”
the lawsuit says.
“Defendant Employer continued to discipline Lawson for her failure to follow the dress code by wearing the apron that was contrary to her sincerely held religious belief.”
Rickerd and Lawson are suing for backpay as well as punitive damages. The lawsuit also asked that Kroger
“institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs which provide equal employment opportunities for Lawson and Rickerd.”
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Rodofsky, ruled in favor of Rickerd and Lawson granting them $180,000 from Kroger Limited Partnership. Rudofsky wrote in the order that Rickerd and Lawson
“both have sincerely held religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin and that they cannot support or promote it.”
Rudofsky also ordered the company to implement a
“religious accommodation policy and new employee training.”
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
