Target Apologizes After Firing Employee Over Religious Nametag

AP Photo/George Walker IV, File

Target has issued an apology to a former employee in Fargo, North Dakota, who was fired for writing “trust in Jesus” on her nametag.

The store manager claimed that Denise Kendrick, who wore the nametag, had violated the company’s dress code, according to KVLY.

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Kendrick stated that she was fired after a manager approached her about the nametag.

“I replied, ‘Well, I’ve seen people with rainbows on theirs. I’m going to continue to wear this nametag,’ and then they said, ‘Well, you can’t work here anymore,’” Kendrick told the news outlet.

The former employee said the manager refused to provide documentation explaining the reason for her firing.

Kendrick said she asked for a written statement about why she was fired, which the manager allegedly refused to provide.

Instead, Kendrick said she was given a paper with a list of contact information as it pertains to Target’s dress code policy.

“They gave me this paper with all these phone numbers on it and said, ‘If you have any questions about the violation of the dress code, just call one of these numbers.’ And he just kept repeating it, and we just kept going back and forth, and it was going nowhere,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick said on the day of the incident, she was wearing a plain red sweatshirt, jeans and her nametag...

However, after reviewing the incident, Target apologized and offered Kendrick her job back.

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Kendrick said she didn't understand the manager’s actions because she had worn other religion-themed items previously with no issues. “I’ve worn Christian-themed shirts before to work for months and have never had an issue. I’m wondering why the nametag was any different,” she explained.

Upon reviewing the incident, Target issued a statement with the apology.

“Upon learning of the situation, we conducted a review and determined that the team member should not have been terminated. We apologized to her and offered to reinstate her immediately. We are taking the appropriate steps to address the actions taken by the individual leader involved in this situation and are working with the store to ensure our policies are appropriately followed moving forward.”

Kendrick has not indicated whether she will return to her job. But the incident illustrates the ongoing culture war and how it has permeated corporate America.

So far, there are no further details on what happened in this episode, but it appears Kendrick did not violate Target’s dress code policy. Judging by the company’s statement, the manager took it upon himself to enforce a dress code violation that did not exist, which could suggest that he had a problem with Christians expressing their faith, especially since those displaying LGBTQ themes on their clothing were not subject to the same treatment.

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Kendrick’s case is not an isolated one. Folks who subscribe to the “woke” way of thinking often try to coerce or compel people into abiding by their ideology. In this case, an individual was willing to threaten someone’s job simply for displaying her faith – an issue that would likely not offend most customers.

In this case, Target did the right thing. But how many other situations like this have arisen at its stores that didn't receive media attention?

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