News

A grocery store in the US is being sued for firing two employees who refused to wear aprons emblazoned with an LGBT heart emblem.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing the Arkansas Kroger store for breaching religious discrimination laws.

Both former employees are Christian who could not in good conscience wear the outfits featuring LGBT propaganda.

The women “believed the emblem endorsed LGBTQ values and that wearing it would violate their religious beliefs,” according to the EEOC.

The women were disciplined for their refusal and subsequently fired by Kroger.

“One woman offered to wear the apron with the emblem covered and the other offered to wear a different apron without the emblem, but the company made no attempt to accommodate their requests,” said the EEOC.

The EEOC said that the alleged conduct violates the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The legal action seeks monetary relief in the form of back pay and compensatory damages, along with an injunction against future discrimination.                       

“Companies have an obligation under Title VII to consider requests for religious accommodations, and it is illegal to terminate employees for requesting an accommodation for their religious beliefs,” said EEOC  spokesman Delner-Franklin Thomas.

The Kroger Company is the second-largest general retailer in the US and the largest supermarket by revenue.