An Iowa man who was reportedly fired by his employer for wearing Christian shirts during Pride month has settled with his former employer. Cosby “Corey” Cunningham, a self-proclaimed born-again Christian, sued Eaton Corp in June 2024 after claiming he was fired for a series of Christian shirts he wore during the company’s Pride events. Cunningham had worked for the company since 2019 as a quality assurance manager, with the lawsuit alleging that the company began to promote more and more “woke” and “DEI” related activities during his time there.  He had also disagreed about using pronouns during a training session held by the company and was “singled out” for his refusal. According to the lawsuit, Eaton had initiated a Pride Month Ceremony on June 2, 2023 and encouraged its employees to wear certain colors and offered Pride-themed shirts through an email.

Cunningham subsequently began wearing Christian-themed shirts with sayings such as “Pride goes before destruction, an arrogant spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18” and “Taking back the rainbow. Genesis 9:13.” Eaton responded by calling Cunningham into an HR meeting on July 20, 2023, where he was told his shirts were making some people “uncomfortable” and that one felt his shirts were “inflammatory.” At another meeting a week later, Cunningham stated he requested to know what specific policy his religious t-shirts were violating, with Cunningham then alleging Eaton threatened to fire him. The next day, Eaton denied a written religious accommodation request for his shirts. On two occasions he was sent home after refusing to stop wearing his shirts and on August 23, 2023, he was fired for violating Eaton’s “Harassment-Free” policy.

Cunningham responded by filing discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission before escalating to a federal lawsuit. Eaton’s lawyers justified Cunningham’s firing, stating he was not entitled to compensation as the company’s actions were “legitimate and non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory.” However, both parties reached a settlement outside of court at an undisclosed amount. Robert Anderson, an attorney for the Pacific Justice Institute, represented Cunningham. He stated that he was not at liberty to share details about the settlement. Eaton has denied requests for comment from several news agencies, including Fox News. The case was dismissed on May 20 after the settlement was reached.