A New Jersey Christian woman filed a wrongful termination lawsuit on November 19, 2020 against her former employer Starbucks, alleging she was fired for refusing to wear the company’s Pride shirt that honors the LGBT community. The woman cited her religious beliefs as the reason she refused to wear the shirt.
Betsy Fresse has worked as barista at the popular coffee chain since December 2015. In her lawsuit she claimed managers were aware of her religious beliefs as she regularly requested Sundays and other evenings off for church attendance purposes.
According to New York Post the suit that was filed stated that Fresse was “assured by managers that her faith wouldn’t be an issue after transferring to a store in Glen Ridge early last year.” Later, in June 2019, after spotting a box during a meeting in a manger’s office that contained Starbucks‘ Pride shirts, she asked if she would be required to wear one. Fresse said having to wear the shirt would be “tantamount to forced speech” because her definition of marriage is defined by the Bible which teaches marriage is between one man and one woman only. Her manager told her she wouldn’t have to wear the company’s shirt.
Starbucks fired NJ barista for refusing to wear 'Pride' shirt, lawsuit claims https://t.co/Lu8nOVHMo9 pic.twitter.com/eTQ2ImjPE8
— New York Post (@nypost) November 26, 2020
The lawsuit states that Fresse believes that “every Christian is called to love and treat everyone with respect and compassion, irrespective of their religious or other beliefs.” and that her religious belief is “that all people need Jesus.”
