Keezer said he'd been wearing an American flag button on his Home Depot apron since he began working as a cashier at the store in March 2008. The button read, "One nation under God, indivisible," a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Trevor Keezer had been working at the Home Depot store in the town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. He states all was well until he started to bring a bible to read at lunch. That is, according to his statements, when Home Depot management stepped in and told him to stop wearing the pin. He refused.
Home Depot management stated it is company policy to not allow wearing of pins or buttons that are not company-provided. They stated this is clearly outlined as part of the company dress code.
While Kara Skorupa, said she planned to sue the company, Michael Masinter, a civil rights and employment law professor at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale said that would be a tough lawsuit to win.
"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 First Amendment. 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."
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