Major League Baseball players who expressed their faith by inscribing Bible verses on their caps during Pride Night events now find themselves backed by an unexpected ally: the federal government.
In a notable turn of events, the U.S. Department of Justice has brought attention to the situation involving MLB’s actions against four San Francisco Giants players. These players were cautioned by the league after they decided to write Bible verses on their hats, coinciding with the team’s Pride Night celebration. The DOJ has escalated the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), suggesting that the league may have engaged in religious discrimination.
The players in question—Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker—were accused of contravening league guidelines by adding these inscriptions to their special Pride Night caps, which featured the “SF” logo in rainbow hues. Meanwhile, Sam Hentges opted out of wearing the cap altogether, further complicating the scenario.
Following these actions, MLB issued a formal warning to the players for breaching its uniform policy. This response from the league has now prompted the DOJ to take the unusual step of addressing a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, indicating their referral of the league to the EEOC for further examination.
MLB followed up by issuing the players a warning for violating uniform policy.
In a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the DOJ revealed that it was referring the league to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“The three players expressed their opposition to MLB’s pro-Pride orthodoxy,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in the letter. “The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the League’s vehicle for pro-Pride messages.
“Federal law is clear: employers must modify their uniform requirements to reasonably accommodate their employees’ exercise of religion. The Trump administration is committed to combatting religious discrimination.”
Dhillon’s reference to the duty of employers to modify uniform requirements comes after a key 2015 ruling in favor of a Muslim woman who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because her hijab did not align with the company’s dress code.
The Giants released a statement saying:
“The San Francisco Giants are proud to support Pride Night and the LGBTQ+ community… We also respect that individuals may make personal choices about participating in team activations. We understand that the choices by individual players has caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that.”