A former employee of a large food service corporation is suing the company in federal court after it fired her for refusing to participate in a program that discriminates against white male employees.
…participation in the program was restricted to “women and people of color.” White men were not allowed to participate and receive the associated benefits of training, mentorship, and guaranteed promotion.
By calling it “Operation Equity,” the company “used a euphemistic and false title to hide the program’s true nature.” The program would more accurately be called the “White-Men-Need-Not-Apply” program because it is an example of “‘outright racial balancing,’ which is patently unlawful,” and is the kind of program “promoted by people … who harbor racial animus against white men,” according to the legal complaint.
Ms. Rogers claims she informed management that high-level employees said of the program, “This is the direction the world is going, jump on the train or get run over,” and “We are not here to appease the old white man.”
Ms. Rogers claims she also informed management that the program was illegal and requested that she be allowed an accommodation because the program “violated her ethical beliefs.” Management assured her she would be exempted from participating in it and that she would not be retaliated against for sharing her concerns with management.
Ms. Rogers claims she was fired in November 2022 after she refused to participate in the program that discriminated on the basis of race and sex, even though she received positive performance feedback from supervisors and colleagues. The stated reason for termination was “failure to perform job duties,” the legal complaint stated.
In the lawsuit, Ms. Rogers is seeking relief for religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, as well as wrongful termination.
An attorney for Ms. Rogers, Robert Weisenburger of LiMandri and Jonna in Rancho Santa Fe, California, told The Epoch Times in an interview that his client’s personal, religious beliefs as a Christian prevented her from being part of “Operation Equity.”
American Buddhist Net 