In June of 2023, Eaton kicked off “Pride Month” with a ceremony that involved hosting a rainbow-colored flag outside of its main office. It also allegedly encouraged workers to wear Pride-related colors. In some cases, Eaton managers sent out emails to staff with links to purchase Pride-themed T-shirts.
An Iowa man has settled a First Amendment lawsuit with his former employer, which he claims fired him for wearing overtly Christian apparel after finding out that the company had endorsed Pride Month.
According to The Iowa Capital Dispatch, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiff Cosby “Corey” Cunningham, a former Eaton Corp. employee. In his complaint, Cunningham said that he was hired as a quality manager at an Eaton office in Davenport in 2019. His responsibilities included “product development” for projects related to the military as well as the aerospace industry.
In June of 2023, Eaton kicked off “Pride Month” with a ceremony that involved hosting a rainbow-colored flag outside of its main office. It also allegedly encouraged workers to wear Pride-related colors. In some cases, Eaton managers sent out emails to staff with links to purchase Pride-themed T-shirts.
Cunningham claims that, on the same day as the flag-raising ceremony, he made a deliberate decision to begin wearing T-shirts that displayed Bible verses. He did this to “express his sincerely held religious belief in Jesus Christ and the Bible.”
However, most of Cunningham’s T-shirts displayed verses that made explicit references to “pride” and “rainbows.” One of the shirts read, “Pride goes before destruction, an arrogant spirit before a fall.” Another read, “Taking back the rainbow. Gensis 9:13.”
Over the course of the next eight weeks, Eaton managers purportedly engaged Cunningham, making repeated efforts to dissuade him from continuing to wear Christian-themed clothing. He was sent home several times and, eventually, threatened with termination.
On August 23, 2023, Cunningham was fired.
Attorneys for Cunningham said that their client simply believes that, because “homosexual conduct is sinful,” he had been called upon to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, including people who do not share his beliefs.
In response, Eaton argued that Cunningham was not entitled to damages because every action taken by the company against him was “legitimate and non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory,” with his termination a reflection of Eaton’s business interests.
Eaton was represented by attorneys from the Pacific Justice Institute, a right-wing legal defense organization that has a history of litigating anti-LGBT complaints and assisting workers in challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Iowa Dispatch notes that the Southern Poverty Law Center describers the PFJ as “an anti-LGBT hate group” whose founder has “compared legalized gay marriage to Hitler and the Nazis’ ascent in Germany.”
The details of the settlement are currently confidential.
Sources
Iowan settles lawsuit with former employer over his Christian-themed shirts
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