Bath & Body Works is facing a federal lawsuit over preferred pronouns.
Jocelyn Boden says she was fired from her job as a store manager at a Bath & Body Works in Layton, Utah.
“I refused to lie based on my religious beliefs and my moral,” she said on my Newsmax television show. “I refused to degrade my moral character by lying and calling a biological girl, a new associate that I had hired, a he. It was that simple.”
Watch my exclusive interview with Ms. Boden and her attorney below and click here to follow my YouTube Channel.
She declined to address a new transgender employee by their preferred pronouns. The transgender worker is a woman who is pretending to be a man.
Ms. Boden and the new employee only worked together for one day. When she declined to use male pronouns, a complaint was filed with human resources for “misgendering” the employee. She was accused of gender-identity discrimination and fired.
Ms. Boden was willing to use any name or nickname but she said her religious convictions prevented her from using male pronouns when addressing a woman.
First Liberty Institute is representing Ms. Boden. They say Bath & Body Works violated the religious rights policies outlined under Title VII.
“No one should be forced to choose between their job and their faith,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel for First Liberty. “Forcing employees to violate their conscience and religious convictions violates the federal Civil Rights Act.”
They allege the company also violated the Utah Anti-Discrimination Act by retaliating against Ms. Boden for expressing her religious beliefs.
“Bath & Body Works could have easily worked with Jocelyn and offered an accommodation,” Taub added, “but instead they choose to violate federal and state law and fire her.”
First Liberty says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued two guidelines clarifying legal protections for Americans who encounter discrimination under the guise of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” as was the case with Jocelyn. The EEOC made clear that there is no DEI exception to federal law, which mandates equal protection of all groups and individuals, including those with religious convictions.
“For religious Americans, this guidance signals a new receptivity within the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to legitimate claims of religious discrimination,” Taub explained in an op-ed for The Hill.
Ms. Boden said it was not a difficult decision to stand up for her beliefs.
“What’s right is right. What’s true is true. What’s reality is reality. There’s no meanness involved in that. There’s not judgment and cruelty involved with that. That is just basic science. It’s just basic reality.
The owners of the Bath & Body Works haven’t come to terms that God created me and women and pronouns are assigned accordingly. And that’s how that works,” she said.