Man Settles After Fighting for His Right to Wear Religious T-Shirts to Work

In May 2025, it was reported that a man in Iowa had settled a lawsuit against his employer for not allowing him to wear Christian t-shirts. The undisclosed sum represents a victory for the man, who argued that his faith required him to share his biblical teachings with his co-workers. What does this case say about the right to wear religious-themed clothing to work? 

Man Started Wearing T-Shirts With Bible Verses During Pride Month

This story begins in 2023, when the man’s employer chose to participate in Pride Month. In preparation for this, the company encouraged all employees to wear colorful clothing in observance of this month-long ceremony. They also raised a “pride flag” in front of the company building and sent emails to staff about the various plans. According to the plaintiff, the company also offered to sell pride-themed t-shirts to employees. 

The worker chose to take a different approach to his on-the-job attire. Instead of wearing colorful, pride-themed shirts, he wore shirts with Bible verses. However, to say these shirts were not “pride-themed” would be inaccurate. In fact, many of the Bible verses on these shirts referred specifically to pride, which is a sin according to most Christians. Examples included:

• “Pride goes before destruction, an arrogant spirit before a fall.” 
• “Taking back the rainbow.” 
• God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Faced with this behavior, the company decided to reprimand the employee. They met with him and told him that his actions were “inflammatory.” They also implied that he was violating company policy. In response, the worker asked for a religious accommodation to continue wearing his bible-themed shirts. The company managers refused, and they proceeded to send him home on two separate occasions when he continued to wear his shirts to work. This inevitably resulted in his termination. 

The worker then filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, arguing that his religious beliefs teach him that homosexuality is a sin. In other words, he was not simply trying to engage in inflammatory, provocative behavior. According to him, his faith required him to take these actions. 

Lawyers for the company refused to settle at first, arguing that he did not actually face any religious discrimination. They obviously changed their mind, and the company eventually settled for an undisclosed sum. 

Can Religious People Wear T-Shirts With Bible Quotes?

The truth is that under the right circumstances, employers can probably ban workers from wearing religious-themed t-shirts. A rock-solid company policy would probably stand up to scrutiny in court. No faith requires its followers to wear t-shirts with bible quotes. Although a Sikh individual would almost certainly have the right to wear a turban to work, this same right does not extend to t-shirts with specific faith-based quotes. 

So why did the lawyers at the aforementioned company decide to settle? It could have been that the company simply wanted to avoid the stress and expense of a trial. On the other hand, they might have been worried about a negative decision, and understandably so. If you are going to ban t-shirts that celebrate a certain ideology, you have to be consistent across the board. 

You cannot allow workers to wear shirts that celebrate some ideologies but not others. This is a textbook example of workplace discrimination, and it may have led to a significant financial penalty for the company in question. On the other hand, the worker’s t-shirt choices could also have been considered a form of harassment against LGBTQ+ employees, and may have violated other company policies.

The Goal of the Universal Life Church’s Blog

Each month, various lawsuits test the nature of religious rights in this country. While the basis for many religious rights is the United States Constitution, there are still countless cases that question the exact nature of these rights. The Universal Life Church’s blog is focused on documenting the most noteworthy of these cases in an objective manner that can be easily understood by readers.