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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><A
href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_bi_ge/us_god_button_home_depot">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_bi_ge/us_god_button_home_depot</A></FONT></DIV>
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<H1>Man says Home Depot fired him over God button</H1>
<DIV class=byline><CITE class=vcard>By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press
Writer </CITE><ABBR class=recenttimedate
title=2009-10-27T13:45:48-0700>37 mins ago</ABBR> </DIV><!-- end .byline -->
<DIV class="mod ad darla_ad" id=darla-ad__LREC> </DIV>
<DIV class="mod ad darla_ad">WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Keezer calls himself
an American patriot, a man who loves his country, God and religion. He never
imagined his beliefs would get him fired.</DIV>
<P>But that's exactly what the 20-year-old says happened when he reported for
work at The Home Depot in the rural Florida town of <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_0>Okeechobee</SPAN>, about 140 miles north of <SPAN
class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_1>Miami</SPAN>.</P>
<P><SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_2>Keezer</SPAN> said he'd been
wearing an <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_3>American flag button</SPAN>
on his <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_4>Home Depot</SPAN> apron since
he began working as a cashier at the store in <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_5>March 2008</SPAN>. The button read, "<SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_6>One nation</SPAN> under God, indivisible."</P>
<P>"I've worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God," Keezer
said Tuesday. "I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love
my country."</P>
<P>But earlier this month, Keezer began bringing a Bible to work to read on his
lunch break.</P>
<P>That's when he says <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_7>Home Depot
management</SPAN> told him he would have to remove the button.</P>
<P>Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.</P>
<P>"It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my
country," Keezer said.</P>
<P>A Home Depot spokesman said Keezer's termination was for a violation of the
company's <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_8>dress code</SPAN>.</P>
<P>"This associate chose to wear a button that expressed his religious beliefs.
The issue is not whether or not we agree with the message on the button," Craig
Fishel said. "That's not our place to say, which is exactly why we have a
blanket policy, which is long-standing and well-communicated to our associates,
that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons."</P>
<P>Fishel said Keezer was offered a company-approved pin that said, "United We
Stand," but he declined.</P>
<P>Keezer is now out of work and has retained attorneys who say they plan to
sue.</P>
<P>He said he was working at The Home Depot to earn money for college, and wore
the button to support his country and his 27-year-old brother, who is in the
<SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_9>National Guard</SPAN> and is set to
report in December for a second tour of duty in <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_10>Iraq</SPAN>.</P>
<P>Keezer said the store manager specifically told him he was being fired
because he refused to remove the button that had the word "God" on it.</P>
<P>"They never once said anything about the <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_11>yellow ribbon</SPAN>" worn on his apron to support the
troops, Keezer said.</P>
<P>Keezer's West Palm Beach lawyer, Kara Skorupa, said she planned to sue the
Atlanta-based company.</P>
<P>"There are federal and state laws that protect against <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_12>religious discrimination</SPAN>," Skorupa said. "It's not
like he was out in the aisles preaching to people."</P>
<P>She also noted the slogan on Keezer's pin is straight from the <SPAN
class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_13>Pledge of Allegiance</SPAN>.
<P>"These mottos and sayings that involve God, that's part of our country and
historical fabric," Skorupa said. "In God we trust is on our money."
<P>Michael Masinter, a <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_14>civil
rights</SPAN> and <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_15>employment law
professor</SPAN> at NOVA Southeastern University in <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1256676364_16>Fort Lauderdale</SPAN>, said any lawsuit over religious
discrimination might be a tough one to win.
<P>"Because it's a private business, not one that's owned and operated by the
government, it doesn't have to operate under the free speech provisions of the
<SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_17>First Amendment</SPAN>," Masinter
said.
<P>Masinter said the only legal question would be if The Home Depot violated
anti-discrimination laws meant to protect religious freedoms.
<P>"But we're not talking about religious displays here," he said. "This sounds
more like a political message ... Wearing a button of that sort would not easily
be described as a traditional form of religious expression like wearing a cross
or wearing a yarmulke.
<P>"<SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1256676364_18>Home Depot</SPAN> is under no
legal obligation to allow its employees to use their work time and their work
clothing to express their personal political messages," he
added.</P></DIV></BODY>
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