Two Kroger employees in Arkansas have received settlements after they were fired for refusing to wear the company’s uniform. The apron that was issued in 2019 included a heart with a rainbow.
The two women said they couldn’t wear the apron with the heart for religious reasons. The heart, they believed, showed support for LGBT people. So one of the women covered the heart with her name tag. The other refused to wear the apron altogether but offered to buy a different apron.
The two were repeatedly told the heart had no political or social meaning. It wasn’t a six-striped LGBT rainbow. Instead, the Kroger rainbow had four colors — blue, light blue, red and yellow.
The two employees were eventually fired for insubordination and for violating Kroger’s dress code policy. According to their EEOC filing, both women believe homosexuality is a sin.
Their suit settled this week. In addition to cash damages, Kroger agreed to give managers “religious discrimination” training and create a “religious accommodation policy.
— David Taffet
