A judge has ordered Kroger to pay $180,000 to two former employees, Brenda Lawson and Trudy Rickerd, who were fired for refusing to wear an apron with LBGTQ+ symbols

A judge has ordered Kroger to pay $180,000 to two former employees who were fired for refusing to wear an apron with LBGTQ+ symbols.

The employees, Trudy Rickerd and Brenda Lawson, were fired from one of the company’s stores in Arkansas in 2019 after they refused to wear the apron because they thought the logos looked like a rainbow Pride flag. The suit was filed in 2020 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which alleged that Krogen illegally fired the two women, violated their civil rights, and discriminated against them based on their religious beliefs.

In a statement, the EEOC said the company settled earlier this week after it was founded that Kroger fired them based on discrimination. During court filings, the company denied that the women were fired due to their religious beliefs and said the aprons represented support for the LBGTQ community.