Federal agency investigating after Christian college student fired for answering coworkers’ questions about her faith

An investigation is underway after a Kentucky college student was fired by a local coffee shop without notice for answering co-workers’ questions about her Christian faith.

“The idea that an employer can fire an employee for simply voicing a religious belief, after being invited to do so, is chilling,” Cliff Martin, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute – the firm representing the student – said in a statement. “No employee should have to hide their faith in order to keep their job.”

Paige Rogers, a sophomore at Boyce College, was working her second year at Heine Bros, a coffee shop with multiple locations around Louisville. During her Oct. 1 shift, when Rogers mentioned she attended a Christian college to two coworkers, one immediately asked intrusive questions regarding Rogers’ personal sexual decisions.

“In response, I respectfully shared about God’s design for marriage and sex, and that while I don’t judge anyone for their decisions, my faith plays a huge role in how I approach the topic, and that I seek to honor God with my decisions,” Rogers said in a written statement, submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which will investigate the matter.

Later in the conversation, a second co-worker asked Rogers whether she would have to end her relationship with two partners if she became a Christian.

“I respectfully shared my belief that homosexuality is a sin but that we are all sinners, and it is never our place to judge someone else,” Rogers said.

It is a widely held Christian view, including by the president of Rogers’ college and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Albert Mohler.

Scripture reveals God’s righteousness and how He will judge both our actions and our own moral judgements, Mohler told The Lion in an interview.

“Every human being is making moral judgments,” he said. “But the difference is we want to make moral judgments according to God’s will, as revealed in Scripture, and God Himself is the ultimate judge. He will judge every one of us, even in our judgments.”

In the same conversation at work, Rogers said she shared how “God had saved me and changed my life,” adding that He changes the heart. She also discussed life after death with this second co-worker.

“I shared my beliefs about the afterlife based on the Bible, and that everyone who puts their hope and faith in God will be saved and go to heaven,” she said.

Fired without warning

Less than two weeks later, Rogers received a text message, notifying her of her immediate termination, saying her “behavior violated Heine Bros’ policies regarding respectful workplace conduct and anti-discrimination.”

“It was reported that you engaged in conversations in the workplace where you expressed religious beliefs in a manner that was unwelcome and offensive to others,” the text read.

The messages said Heine Bros had conducted a “thorough investigation,” but Rogers was never contacted prior to her termination.

“If the employer wants to allege that Paige discriminated against someone, the very least they should have done is interview Paige and ask her what she meant by her words,” Martin told The Lion. “But it was a knee jerk termination over text message, and there was no opportunity for her to explain.

“It would be rich for them to claim that she’s the discriminatory one when they are acting so clearly discriminatory between these two employees,” he added.

Discrimination is “one of the most carelessly used words in the English vocabulary,” Mohler said. Under the charge of discrimination, Heine Bros has compromised Rogers’ religious liberty and free speech by punishing her for honestly answering questions posed to her, he said.

“How she can be found wrong in answering questions posed by others in the workplace and answering according to her Christian convictions – that’s incomprehensible,” Mohler said. “That’s just not right. I think Americans will recognize that.”

EEOC to investigate Heine Bros

First Liberty is asking the EEOC to investigate the matter for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects employees from discrimination on the basis of race, sex or religion and requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious practices.

“This was Heine Brothers plainly firing an employee for expressing a religious conviction,” Martin said.

The EEOC investigates workplace discrimination claims and negotiates a settlement between the company and the employee. If no resolution is reached, then the EEOC can sue the employer for discrimination, Martin explained. Neither Rogers nor First Liberty has received any further correspondence from Heine Bros or the co-workers, Martin said.

“A Christian employee was asked questions by other employees, and answering the questions became the cause of her losing the job. That clearly is an injury,” Mohler said. “She has every right – and I think it’s a real Christian opportunity – to press that case by every appropriate means.”

Martin says Heine Bros clearly discriminated against Rogers’ religious beliefs by only considering the “alleged discomfort of a co-worker” and refusing to ask Rogers for her perspective.

“Paige comes across as an earnest and very true, believing Christian,” he added. “She is very respectful, and, when we have spoken with her, we have been impressed with her well-spokenness as well as her character.”

Mohler, who does not know Rogers personally, said he would encourage her to continue defending “the transformative message of the gospel.”

“I would encourage Paige, in the most sensitive and appropriate manner, to share her faith wherever there is an opportunity to speak to the gospel of Jesus Christ as the centering truth of her life – the transformative message of the gospel as the passion of her heart,” he said.