The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against the grocery store chain Kroger, claiming that a store in Arkansas violated federal law when it fired two women who refused to wear the company apron with a gay and transgender rainbow symbol on it. The women believed wearing the apron would endorse gay and transgender values that violated their sincerely held religious beliefs and so refused and suggested alternatives. The lawsuit raises an important question: Is it illegal to require a dress code that espouses one belief system and that potentially violates the sincerely held religious beliefs of the person wearing it? On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton , in which the ruling protects gay and transgender people from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, these cases combining social justice issues, religious freedom, and the law are becoming increasingly prevalent. Kollman and Saucier, a firm that specializes in employment law, described the legal rub thus: “Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer has an obligation to make reasonable accommodations to an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs. However, an employer need not […]
