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Home Depot Employee Fired for Wearing "God.." Button

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by rocketsjudoka, Oct 28, 2009.

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  1. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    I think this is a kind of interesting comparison to the situation where the guy fired his employees for not changing their names.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33505354/ns/business-local_business

    Worker: I was fired for wearing ‘God’ button
    Quote from Pledge of Allegiance; Home Depot says he violated dress code

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a "One nation under God" button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

    "I've worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God," Trevor Keezer said Tuesday. "I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country."

    The American flag button Keezer wore in the Florida store since March 2008 says "One nation under God, indivisible."

    Earlier this month, he began bringing a Bible to read during his lunch break at the store in the rural town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. That's when he says The Home Depot management told him he would have to remove the button.

    Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.

    "It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my country," Keezer said.

    A Home Depot spokesman said Keezer was fired because he violated the company's dress code.

    "This associate chose to wear a button that expressed his religious beliefs. The issue is not whether or not we agree with the message on the button," Craig Fishel said. "That's not our place to say, which is exactly why we have a blanket policy, which is long-standing and well-communicated to our associates, that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons."

    Fishel said Keezer was offered a company-approved pin that said, "United We Stand," but he declined.

    Keezer's lawyer, Kara Skorupa, said she planned to sue the Atlanta-based company.

    "There are federal and state laws that protect against religious discrimination," Skorupa said. "It's not like he was out in the aisles preaching to people."

    Keezer said he was working at the store to earn money for college, and wore the button to support his country and his 27-year-old brother, who is in the National Guard and is set to report in December for a second tour of duty in Iraq.

    Skorupa noted the slogan on Keezer's pin is straight from the Pledge of Allegiance.

    "These mottos and sayings that involve God, that's part of our country and historical fabric," Skorupa said. "In God we trust is on our money."

    Michael Masinter, a civil rights and employment law professor at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, said any lawsuit over religious discrimination might be a tough one to win.

    "Because it's a private business, not one that's owned and operated by the government, it doesn't have to operate under the free speech provisions of the First Amendment," Masinter said.

    "But we're not talking about religious displays here," he said. "This sounds more like a political message ... Wearing a button of that sort would not easily be described as a traditional form of religious expression like wearing a cross or wearing a yarmulke."
     
    #1 rocketsjudoka, Oct 28, 2009
  2. bnb

    bnb Member

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    It was his nametag.
    And his name was "jesus"

    But then his dumbass manager made him anglo it to "god" -- and then he gets fired.
     
    #2 bnb, Oct 28, 2009
    1 person likes this.
  3. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    I can't complain here. Work is not the place for political expression. An employer should be allowed to control that.
     
    #3 JuanValdez, Oct 28, 2009
  4. Dave_78

    Dave_78 Member

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    Another Christian who feels his right to push his beliefs on the rest of us has been infringed upon. I don't see where he has a case at all and I doubt any judge will.

    Good for you, Home Depot.
     
    #4 Dave_78, Oct 28, 2009
  5. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    Score one for the Depot.
     
    #5 DonnyMost, Oct 28, 2009
  6. leroy

    leroy Member
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    An employer has the right to say what you can and can't wear to work. The only people who think this is a religious issue is the "victim" and his lawyers.

    Home Depot is right and should have no problem winning this case.
     
    #6 leroy, Oct 28, 2009
  7. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    I think this guy was only wearing it to provoke (which he got) a reaction but how do you reconcile this statement

    when it comes to a burqa?
     
    #7 Bandwagoner, Oct 28, 2009
  8. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
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    As long as it was an orange burqa that said "Home Depot," had pockets for tools, and there were no buttons, it should fly.
     
    #8 B-Bob, Oct 28, 2009
  9. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    I think the vest thing they wear would cover that. So I guess you are right.
     
    #9 Bandwagoner, Oct 28, 2009
  10. leroy

    leroy Member
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    May not be as cut and dry as I put it, but does a private business not have the right to make these stipulations? I'd hope most companies would use their best judgment should the situation arise.
     
    #10 leroy, Oct 28, 2009
  11. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    I have no idea. I would think so because of Hooters etc. where that is the deal. But I think I remember some lawsuits where Muslim women claimed uniforms were against their religion.
     
    #11 Bandwagoner, Oct 28, 2009
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    I think religious wear should be accomodated in the workplace, as long as it is not disruptive to the business. Perhaps items that identify you as a member of a particular group would be okay, but something that proselytizes would not. If his button literally was like that, I'd feel rather sympathetic. But, "One Nation under God, indivisible" doesn't sound like religious expression to me, it sounds like political expression. I don't see why that should be accomodated.
     
    #12 JuanValdez, Oct 28, 2009
  13. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    It's both. And it justifiably got him the boot.
     
    #13 DonnyMost, Oct 28, 2009
  14. Depressio

    Depressio Member

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    I wonder how he would have felt is a fellow employee had a button that said something like "There is no God"?
     
    #14 Depressio, Oct 28, 2009
  15. Shovel Face

    Shovel Face Member

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    Will they also refuse money that says "God" on it?
     
    #15 Shovel Face, Oct 28, 2009
  16. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    Don't come with that weak logic.

    It isn't even supposed to say that on it.

    Thank you very much Cold War!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust
     
    #16 DonnyMost, Oct 28, 2009
  17. Space Ghost

    Space Ghost Member

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    You're not serious, are you? Would you really feel like his button in infringing on your right? If he had a rainbow button, would you be as supportive?

    Home Depot has a right, but it was in bad taste.

    The reality of the situation is the guy was probably harassing fellow workers with religious talk. I completely disagree with that.
     
    #17 Space Ghost, Oct 28, 2009
  18. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    Cold war of 1866?

    [​IMG]
     
    #18 Bandwagoner, Oct 28, 2009
  19. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    Nope...

     
    #19 DonnyMost, Oct 28, 2009
  20. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    What if he was wearing a pin that made it ambiguous?

    Like "America! Blessed be it! By... You know who"


    sounds like a good compromise.
     
    #20 moestavern19, Oct 28, 2009
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