Exclusive: Wisconsin man Spencer Wimmer asks the Trump administration to step in after telling him he was fired for refusing to use a favorable pronoun that contradicts his biological sex.
The Trump administration has moved to roll back workplace requirements for Day and gender ideology, but Wimmer, a devout Christian, claims that civilians still experience workplace discrimination linked to such policies.
He now filed a complaint of religious discrimination through the Wisconsin Law Liberty Institute (will), and told the Trump-U.S. Employment Opportunity Committee (EEOC) that President Donald Trump hopes he does something about it.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Wimmer said he had worked hard to become a “model employee” during his five years at Generac and was in good condition with the company after several positive performance reviews and promotions. He said he had hoped to have a long and fruitful career at a power equipment company. That is until he is suddenly drawn into a HR encounter and faces refusal to use someone's favorite pronoun.
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Wisconsin man Spencer Wimmer asks the Trump administration to fight for him after saying he was forced to choose between his livelihood and “love for God” and was eventually fired for his religious belief that he would not use any pronouns of someone's preference. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Wimmer says his refusal to use his preferred pronouns is rooted in his deeply bound biblical belief that only two genders exist, and that a person cannot switch between the two.
He explained that he had worked with trans people and even had a good working relationship with one of his trans people. However, after Wimmer had to clarify in HR that he was unable to use the pronouns of his transgender colleagues' preferences with a good conscience, he was rebuked for “non-professional” behavior.
According to Will, who represents Wimmer, a representative from Generac HR told him that his request to refrain from using transgender pronouns for religious reasons “no point.” Wimmer was issued a written disciplinary action stating that “refusing to reject an employee/substitute/pronoun violates the company's code of conduct and harassment policy.”
After a month of feeling targeted and bullied for his religious beliefs, Wimmer was fired from his supervisor role in the Generack Power System on April 2nd.
Wimmer described the entire episode as “heartbreaking.”
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“I was asked to choose my own living and my love for God and my love for my belief,” Wimmer said, adding that he is “very emotional to have everything that tore it all from under me.”
In a complaint with the EEOC, Will Will argues that Generac violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin. Will argues that Generac violated Wimmer's rights despite no harassment complaints filed against him.
Will's lawyer Carla Toliver told Fox News Digital that he believes his case has a wider significance that could affect Americans across the country.
She said that Wimmer's case was Groffv. He tested the recent Supreme Court precedent in a 2023 case called Dejoy, saying it challenged the effectiveness of employers' forced gender affirmation policies against the employees' faithful religious beliefs.
“I think employers seemed at first glance stuck with a lot of identity politics in the workplace, including the topic of gender identity,” she said. “However, even if Title VII could provide some protection to employees against workplace discrimination and harassment based on gender identity, this will not replace and exclude Title VII's protection against the fact that religious discrimination and religious discrimination are illegal.”
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Wimmer told Fox News Digital that he “never asked Generac to choose between me or this other individual.”
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“There was an absolute way that we worked together and there was a compromise that would allow us to continue to have a professional environment,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are organizations and structures where there are individuals and there are no compromises. The fact that you have these beliefs is unacceptable to them. Therefore, the amount of compromise is impossible.”
In response to Fox News Digital's request for comment, a spokesman said:
