No civil rights violation in firing of Iowa rainbow flag critic, appellate court says

(CN) — An Iowa man fired for posting a comment on his employer’s intranet site condemning the rainbow pride flag as an “abomination to God” was not illegally fired based on his religion, a federal appeals court said in a ruling Wednesday.

Daniel Snyder was fired from Arconic Corp., an aluminum company with tens of thousands of employees worldwide, after his comment on the company’s internal site opposing the Arconic's use of the rainbow flag to symbolize support for LGBTQ+ rights. Based on his religion, he says in his lawsuit against the company, he sees the rainbow as a symbol of God’s covenant with man and the company's use of it sacrilegious.

A three-judge panel of the St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in Arconic's favor. The circuit judges agreed with Arconic that Snyder was fired not because of his faith, but because he violated the company’s anti-harassment policy. The rule prohibits employees from circulating on workplace-connected social media material that “denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward a person or group because of any characteristic protected by law.”

The court said there is no question Snyder’s opinion about the rainbow flag is based on a sincerely held religious belief, but noted that Snyder himself conceded his post wasn't motivated by that belief. Instead, he mistakenly thought his post would be seen only by one Arconic official — not be distributed to other company employees.

Because “the action of posting the statement on Arconic’s intranet had no religious intent behind it," the court said, his firing didn't run afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because of their religion.

The unsigned per curiam ruling was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, a Barack Obama appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judges Raymond Gruender and Michael Melloy, both George W. Bush appointees.

Michael McHale, senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, which represents Snyder, expressed disappointment with the ruling. “Mr. Snyder was fired for simply trying to communicate his religious view that it’s wrong to use the rainbow to celebrate ‘Pride Month,’ given the rainbow’s distinctly Biblical origin as the sign of God’s covenant with mankind,” McHale said in a statement to Courthouse News Service. “We continue to believe Arconic’s actions violated the law against religious discrimination and are considering all our options.”

Attorneys representing Arconic did not immediately respond to a request from Courthouse News Service for a comment Wednesday.

Snyder argued in his appellate brief that “the rainbow is a Judeo-Christian symbol of the scriptural covenant between God and His people, dating back to the time of Noah and the Old Testament Book of Genesis [and] that the Bible teaches marriage is between one man and one woman.”

The company in its reply brief said Snyder’s comments were offensive to other employees. “Snyder voluntarily posted harassing comments denigrating a protected class on the company intranet in violation of Arconic policies and the law prohibiting harassment in the workplace. His termination was based on such conduct.”

Follow @roxalaird16

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit