Kroger has agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it discriminated against two employees based on their religious beliefs (EEOC v. Kroger Limited Partnership I, No. 4:20-cv-01099 (E.D. Ark. Oct. 26, 2022)).
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in 2020 that the grocer violated federal law when it wouldn’t allow the employees to opt out of wearing its four-color heart logo.
The workers had a sincerely held religious belief that homosexuality is a sin, the commission said, and believed the Kroger logo was a rainbow that represented support for LGBTQ individuals. They requested permission to cover the logo or wear an apron without the logo, but the employer declined and eventually fired them for refusing to comply with the dress code.
EEOC sued, alleging the employer failed to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs, as required by Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, and retaliated against the employees for seeking religious accommodation.
In response, Kroger said its logo is not a rainbow and that the four colors — blue, yellow, red and light blue — symbolize its commitments to: friendly and caring service; providing fresh goods to customers; uplift in every way; and improving every day, respectively. The grocer additionally pointed out that it has a separate LGBTQ pride logo.
A federal judge in Arkansas dismissed the workers’ claims that Kroger retaliated against them for requesting religious accommodation, but said a jury should determine whether the request would have posed an undue hardship.
Instead, the parties settled. The monetary settlement includes $20,000 in back pay for each of the individuals, plus another $52,000 for each. Kroger also agreed to create a religious accommodation policy that outlines the process and method for requesting an accommodation and includes “a statement that Kroger will review each request case-by-case and grant the request absent undue hardship.”
The EEOC said in a statement that the parties worked in good faith to resolve the lawsuit and that it commends Kroger on its decision to create a religious accommodation policy. Kroger did not respond to a request for comment before press time.
