Macy's Fires Catholic Worker for Expressing Concerns Over Transgender Bathroom Policy, Says Claim
A Catholic man who worked at the department store chain Macy's for over 26 years is now taking legal action against his former employer, claiming that he was fired for privately believing that the company's transgender bathroom policy violates the teachings of the Bible.
Javier Chavez, who was employed as a senior detective at the Macy's store in Queens, New York, was fired following an incident back in May when he responded to a complaint from a female customer who reported that a man was in the women's bathroom. The woman said she and her daughter were uncomfortable entering the bathroom with the man being present.
According to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Chavez instructed a security employee under his command to tell the transgender individual to leave the bathroom. The customer argued that he identifies as a female and later complained to store management.
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Chavez was later informed by the store's assistant manager and assistant security manager that transgender individuals are allowed to use the bathroom of their choice. Chavez responded by saying this bathroom policy was news to him and it went against the teachings of the Bible.
"I advised her that this was against my religion and contrary to the Bible," Chavez wrote in a religious discrimination complaint filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights, according to Fox News.
"I also mentioned that I would not like my young daughters to be in the bathroom with a male inside."
Chavez never said he would not enforce the policy but stated his concerns and beliefs about the company's policy. He claims his termination was the result of religious discrimination and a violation of the state's civil rights law.
"After my employer learned that I was a practicing Catholic, with religious concerns about this policy, I was terminated because of my religion," Chavez wrote in the complaint.
Macy's did not comment on specifics of Chavez's case but did issue a statement to Todd Starnes.
"Macy's does not make employment decisions based upon religious beliefs or religions practices of applicants or employees," the organization said in the statement. "Given that Macy's employs and serves people of many different religions, ethnicities and cultures, Macy's expects its employees to at all times treat fellow employees and customers in a non-discriminatory and respectful manner in accordance with our company policies."
Even though Chavez's side of the story is the only one being presented at this time, Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, believes Macy's has no legal ground "to stand on."
"The most basic religious right is the right to believe; if conscience rights can be vitiated, the First Amendment means nothing. Macy's has no legal, or moral, grounds to stand on," Donohue wrote. "For merely holding beliefs that are contrary to the store's policy, Chavez was fired. This is what totalitarian regimes do, not American commercial establishments."
This is not the first time that an individual has been punished by an employer for discussing religious views on sexuality in the workplace and it probably won't be the last.
ChurchMilitant.com reports that Gigi Kurz, an alumni office worker at Loyola Marymount University, was suspended in April for defending the Catholic Church's teaching on sexuality during a conversation with students during the campus's "Rainbow Week."
One student at the university deemed the employee's remarks a "hate crime." An investigation was launched, Kurz was suspended but eventually reinstated by the school.
