Fla. man says Home Depot fired him over God button

[kay1864]

By Brian Skoloff, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 28, 8:35 am ET

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 Keezor 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."

<snip>

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_god_button_home_depot

Even though it's suspect that the company let him wear the button for over a year, the guy's hypocritical "patriotism" is annoying. Why hide behind the flag? Why not be honest and admit you wanted to wear the button only because it had "God" on it?

:eyes:


ETA: link

[JuniperLea]

1. It may have taken a year for someone to complain...

Sometimes things are not seen until a squeaky wheel sees them. If it offended someone, and he refused to remove the pin, the company has grounds, no question.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. HD has grounds because it's company policy: only company-provided pins and badges can be worn

You breaks da rules, you pays da price.
No problem that I can see here.

[JuniperLea]

4. I agree...

I'm pretty sure they have a signature sheet saying he received said policy too. Most employers do.

[zbdent]

13. that may be so, but

when has the truth, reality, rules, or contracts meant anything to a RWer auditioning for the next spot in the "liberal media spotlight"?

[JuniperLea]

16. Ouch... that stings, burns, and rings of truth!

:rofl:

Man... these people are twisted.

[madeline_con]

17. Yep. he's probably being celebrated as a "persecuted"

God-fearing Amurican on half a dozen evangelical site already.

[DefenseLawyer]

2. I don't really like talking about my flair n/t

[donco6]

6. But you only have 15.

Shame.

[DBoon]

5. No need for him to sue

God will find him another job, I'm sure

[RagAss]

9. Perhaps with our military ! I'm sure he supports the Bush Doctrine.

[DBoon]

15. His God wants him to fight Muslims

I would bet....

[napi21]

7. Betcha a supervisor was in the store that day & saw him.

I've seen things happen many times over the years that were ignored by the people who work together every day, but suddenly a supervisor or somebody from the home office comes for a visit and BINGO, it's against co policy so HANDLE IT!

I can see the Co's position on this. If you permit one person to wear a religious or political button, you have to say OK to all of them wether or not they cause problems because of differing opinions.

[bobburgster]

8. What if it had said, One Nation under Satan?

Making religious references is not okay just because it's Christian.

So I support him being fired.

[Archae]

10. There's more to this story, naturally.

His bosses didn't object to his button, letting him wear it for months.
It was when he brought a Bible to work and started agressively preaching to other co-workers, he was warned, and when he refused, shitcanned.

[Canuckistanian]

12. That's what I think

Sounds like the store bent over backwards to accommodate him and convince him not to wear it. They didn't fire him right away for wearing it.

He must have done something else which left them no choice.

[Regret My New Name]

25. That's what I'm thinking too...

[FLyellowdog]

11. Some counties in FL require that all classrooms post signs...

stating "In God We Trust". Guess one just has to be careful where they work. :shrug:

[madeline_con]

18. Link, please?

[FLyellowdog]

19. No link...saw it with my own eyes when subbing.

I'll try to find you some kind of verification though. Stay tuned.:hi:

[FLyellowdog]

20. This is an older link...but that's the Superintendent who ordered it.

Still up on walls as of January 2009.

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=15803

[Beartracks]

14. Is it political or religious?

Keezer's lawyer says: "There are federal and state laws that protect against religious discrimination."

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


So which is it: loving one's country, which is political, or expressing religious beliefs, which is... well, religious? The two have been conflated by the religious right for so long, you can almost forgive people who might think it natural to defend religiosity as patriotism and vice versa.

Surely Keezer is a religious man, having brought the Bible to work and all, but he seems to think that he's stumbled into a "patriotism" problem (where, talking heads will argue, Obama's hate-America crowd must be having some perverse effect on Keezer's employer). His lawyer, of course, will be fighting from the religious angle. Keezer himself notes in his interviews that he was wearing the pin to show love for his country and support for the military -- especially his brother -- which are patriotic and political sentiments, despite the obvious God reference in the quote which the lawyer is focusing on in order to make it a "religious discrimination" case. I would expect that as this moves forward, Keezer will also start to focus more on the religion angle, if for no other reason than to jive with his lawyer.

In either case, the company doesn't have to allow personal "flair" of any kind, as it can be a distraction in the workplace for sensitive people -- precisely the kind of people who will pick up on Keezer's situation and claim that God-hating, anti-American, Muslobama supporters are ruining everything. And this will handily launch us into War On Christmas 2009.

:eyes:

[Mariana]

24. He's lying, of course.

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

Bullshit. He knows exactly why he was fired and he knows it had nothing whatsoever to do with "loving his country."

Worse than religious people who insist on shoving their faith in everyone's faces, are religious people who insist on shoving their faith in everyone's faces and then deny that's what they were doing.

What a cowardly piece of shit this guy is.

[Union Yes]

21. Religion in the workplace can create a hostile work environment. I've witnessed it myself.

edit: knr'd back to even!

[Union Yes]

22. Also, "One nation under God, indivisible" is offensive.

[shintao]

23. But Cara Says........

Cara says she supports her country and her feminist God of Eden, and has been wearing her red outfit under her Home Depot uniform for over a year now, until she decided it was time for her gods freedoms to be shown at work.

"I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country," Cara cried after being fired.







And this is where these HD rules come from.

[Nailzberg]

26. Cara would get me to switch from Lowe's.