By Wisconsin Institute for Life and Liberty (WILL) –
Generac Refuses to Accommodate Religious Beliefs in Violation of Federal Law
The News: WILL has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on behalf of Spencer Wimmer, a devout Christian, who was fired by Generac Power Systems, Inc. (“Generac”) after sharing his Christian beliefs on gender identity with his manager and Generac’s HR department.
Wimmer’s faith does not allow him to deny the existence of two sexes or affirm gender transitions. His approach in the workplace had been simply to avert any issue by avoiding the use of preferred names and pronouns when these terms do not align with an individual’s biological sex. After Generac learned that Wimmer’s religious beliefs conflicted with the company’s expectation that he refer to transgender employees by their preferred names and pronouns, Wimmer was disciplined and terminated—even though Generac had not received any employee complaints about Wimmer.