A judge has ordered Kroger to pay $180,000 to two former employees who were fired for refusing to wear an apron with LBGTQ+ symbols.
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The employees, Trudy Rickerd and Brenda Lawson, were fired from one of the company’s stores in Arkansas in 2019 after they refused to wear the apron because they thought the logos looked like a rainbow Pride flag. The suit was filed in 2020 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which alleged that Krogen illegally fired the two women, violated their civil rights, and discriminated against them based on their religious beliefs.
In a statement, the EEOC said the company settled earlier this week after it was founded that Kroger fired them based on discrimination. During court filings, the company denied that the women were fired due to their religious beliefs and said the aprons represented support for the LBGTQ community.
“According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Kroger Limited Partnership I engaged in religious discrimination when it disciplined and ultimately fired the employees for refusing to wear an apron with the company’s “Our Promise” symbol because they believed it represented support for the LGBTQ+ community. Kroger denies the allegations.”
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Kroger to pay $180K after firing workers who refused to wear logo allegedly resembling Pride flag
Kroger said the apron uniforms, which had a colored heart, were not intended to express support for the LGBTQ community.https://t.co/jWzNsWcrbq
This is the ‘logo’ 👇 pic.twitter.com/ukfAOMKSFm
— Dennis🏳️🌈🐝🧘☸️ (@BuddhistNoBody) October 29, 2022
After the court hearing, Kroger agreed to create a policy that supports employees requesting religious accommodations, as told by Faye A. Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Memphis district office.
“This policy will provide guidelines for requesting religious accommodation. The parties in the case worked in good faith to resolve this matter, and the Commission is pleased with the resolution.”
Based on the term of the settlement, Kroger will pay the two employees $70,000 each in back pay.