The rainbow flag of the gay pride movement and the flag of the United States. (Photo by Getty Images)
A Scott County man is suing his former employer for allegedly firing him after he wore Christian-themed T-shirts to work in response to the company’s endorsement of Pride Month.
Cosby “Corey” Cunningham is suing Eaton Corp., a global power management company with a Davenport office, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleging violations of his civil rights.
Cunningham, a self-described born-again, church-going Christian, was hired by Eaton in 2019 as a quality manager with responsibilities for product development related to military and aerospace activity.
The Eaton Corp. offices on Rockingham Road in Davenport. (Photo via Google Earth)
According to his lawsuit, Eaton initiated a “Pride Month ceremony” on June 2, 2023, by raising a pride flag in front of its main building and encouraging employees to wear specific colors in support of the effort. Management also sent out emails to the staff offering pride-themed T-shirts for workers to purchase, the lawsuit claims.
That same day, Cunningham alleges, he began wearing T-shirts at work that displayed or referred to Bible verses. According to the lawsuit, he did this to “express his sincerely held religious belief in Jesus Christ and the Bible.”
One shirt read, “Pride goes before destruction, an arrogant spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18.” Another shirt read, “Taking back the rainbow. Genesis 9:13.” A third read, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6.”
Over the next eight weeks, Eaton managers allegedly held a series of meetings with Cunningham to express their concern that his actions were perceived by others as inflammatory and that they might violate company policy.
According to the lawsuit, management refused Cunningham’s requests for a religious accommodation to wear the T-shirts, threatened him with dismissal, and sent him home on at least two occasions for refusing to stop wearing the shirts.
On Aug. 23, 2023, the company fired Cunningham, the lawsuit alleges.
In his lawsuit, Cunningham states that he believes “homosexual conduct is sinful” and that he has been called upon to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. Doing so, he claims, requires him to share with others even those biblical teachings that are offensive to those who don’t share such beliefs.
In his lawsuit, Cunningham is represented by an attorney for the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative organization that says it works to promote religious freedom and parental rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center has characterized the Pacific Justice Institute as “an anti-LGBT hate group” whose founder has “compared legalized gay marriage to Hitler and the Nazis’ ascent in Germany.”
The Eaton Corp. has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, and the company’s media representatives did not return messages Thursday seeking comment.
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