Fired for not supporting pride rainbow; government sides with employer

“The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy has become excessively rigid, acting as speech and thought police. With increasing frequency, they have encouraged student mob behavior silencing those with different viewpoints.”

 Dr. Kenneth Fisher 

Only certain viewpoints are “diverse”

The above quote by Dr. Fisher was included in his article “DEI And Stanford’s Law School,” published in Authentic Medicine, as a criticism of DEI policies in law schools and academia in general. The quote, however, may be just as true for business as it is for education. And, apparently, it's also true for the government.

The Thomas Moore Society, as republished by LifeSite News, is defending metalworker Daniel Snyder, who was fired from his lead operator position at Arconic’s lightweight metal engineering and manufacturing facility in Davenport, Iowa in June 2021. 

“Diversity Policy” doesn't include religious beliefs

Snyder says he was fired for his religious beliefs as he objected to the use of the rainbow as a symbol of "gay pride month" in a survey, stating his biblical belief that the rainbow should not be used in this manner as it is offensive to God; the rainbow “is not meant to be a sign for sexual gender.”

Arconic notified Snyder that another employee was offended by his comment. Snyder was suspended and ultimately terminated for allegedly violating the company's “Diversity Policy.”

For readers who may not be familiar with the biblical meaning of the rainbow, it is found in Genesis 9:12-15, after the flood in which Noah, his family and select animals were saved but during which the rest of humanity and the animal kingdom were destroyed. The rainbow, God told Noah, would stand as a sign of His covenant with mankind that even though they may be sinning and deserving of destruction, He will remember his promise and not destroy the world with another flood. Hence, the rainbow is more than just a marvel in the sky; it contains significant religious meaning to those who follow the Bible:

This is the sign I am making, testifying to the covenant between Me and you and all living souls, forever: I have put my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Myself and the world. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember the covenant between Myself and yourselves and all living souls, and there will never again be a flood to destroy all life.

Feels like a setup

Making the termination even more egregious, according to Snyder's attorneys, is the fact that Snyder did not even know that the expression of his religious beliefs was going to be shared publicly. According to the “Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Appellant” filed on November 21, 2023, Snyder thought he was responding to an anonymous survey, not a comment on an article about the survey, that appeared online:

Defendants-Appellees Arconic, Corp., and Arconic Davenport, LLC (“Arconic”), a large aluminum manufacturer [sic], fired Plaintiff-Appellant Daniel Snyder for making a single religious comment on the company’s employee website opposing its use of the rainbow to promote “Pride Month.” He explained that he thought he was responding to an anonymous company survey, although the statement appeared as a comment to an article about the survey. Arconic fired him anyway.

No trial

Snyder filed a suit for religious discrimination, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, yet his case was dismissed with the judge saying Snyder failed to make a prima facie case that it was religious discrimination before it ever got to trial.

Snyder sued Arconic for religious discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Iowa Civil Rights Act (“ICRA”). He moved for summary judgment on the discrimination claims, and Arconic moved for summary judgment on all claims. The District Court granted Arconic’s motion and denied Snyder’s on the ground that he allegedly failed to establish a prima facie case.

Snyder's lawyers argued that this case raises important issues regarding Title VII's "application to non-disruptive religious expression in the workplace, and the Supreme Court’s new “undue hardship” standard in Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447 (2023)" and duly requested 15 minutes for oral arguments. Their request was approved.

EEOC fights against employees expressing religious freedom

Ironically, the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said Thomas More Society senior counsel, Michael McHale, was to be in court to defend the employer, Arconic, on April 9, 2024, when oral arguments were to be presented before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

“Ironically,” noted McHale, “Arconic is the one refusing to respect the diversity of Mr. Snyder’s beliefs or to acknowledge that he was offended by the company’s choice to co-opt the rainbow to promote ideologies that conflict with the Biblical understanding of marriage and sexuality. And Arconic’s outright refusal to acknowledge that he was just trying to answer a company survey, rather than impose his views on others, was illegal.”

Presidents determine religious freedom by executive order

Government opposition to religious freedom has become “an Executive Order Battle,” as described by NPR in its 2020 article by Tom Gjelten recounting its Morning Edition talk, "Religious Freedom Arguments Give Rise To Executive Order Battle." As such, the battle over religious freedom morphs depending upon who is the U.S. president at the time, and the turn it has taken with the current administration was expected at the time of his election in 2020.

Gjelten recalled that: 

In 2014. . . President Barack Obama unilaterally issued an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring practices on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Four years later the Trump administration weakened that order with a unilateral move directing that contractors facing a discrimination claim under Obama's order should be entitled to a “religious exemption.

The Labor Department then proposed a rule that would give the directive the force of law and permit faith-based contractors to give hiring preference to individuals with particular religious beliefs, such as an opposition to same-sex unions or transgender identities.

With the change of administration in 2021, Gjelten stated, this was again set to change, and indeed it has.

Such back-and-forth executive orders are now set to continue under President-elect Joe Biden, who has promised to reverse President Trump's hiring directives.

Companies divesting from diversity

This lawsuit, and the government's support of Arconic's "Diversity Policy," comes at a time when many companies are beginning to rethink DEI policies now being recognized as racist, as depicted by this tweet from KTHR News.