The Wisconsin Institute for law and Liberty (“WILL”) represents Spencer Wimmer, a former employee of Generac power systems, Inc. (“Generac”), who was discriminated against by Generac on the basis of religion in violation of federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Up until April 2, 2025, Mr. Wimmer had been at Generac for almost 5 years—June of this year would’ve marked his five year anniversary. In that time Mr. Wimmer received glowing performance reviews, various raises, and was even promoted to a leadership role. But everything changed when he disclosed his Christian beliefs to his manager and was forced to meet with Generac’s Human Resources department (“HR”). When Mr. Wimmer told HR and his supervisor that his Christian faith prevented him from using the preferred names and pronouns of transgender employees and sought a religious accommodation to avoid the use of names and pronouns in the workplace, he was disciplined and his request was denied. Although no employee ever launched any complaint against Mr. Wimmer, soon after the denial, Mr. Wimmer was fired and physically escorted off Generac’s premises. Read more»
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty | May 20, 2025
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Good response, thanks!
Just read through the suit and it was sad. He probably could have flown under the radar for years, but good on him for trying to get the company to clearly define a policy that respects religious views.
I’ve worked at jobs where we all went by last names, but it would be weird to start doing it at my current job. Either way, that wouldn’t solve the problem if someone wanted to come for you. I pray his suit is successful and that our country can define sensible laws better than his company did.
Is there any ethical reason to not call a trans person by whatever name they choose? In churches, I’ve heard this proposed as a way around pronouns.
Whether or not they legally change their name, if a guy says that he’d like to be known as Sue from now on, then am I compromising the law of God if I call him Sue, since it will sound as if I am taking part in the deception of him pretending to be a lady?
Hi Matt,
Yes, I think there is. The principal argument is that it simply isn’t true. A trans person who presents himself or herself as if he or she belongs to the opposite sex is not telling the truth. I suppose that one could argue that it is the pronouns more than the proper name that is the issue. A male presenting as a female isn’t a she.
There are instances in which wisdom might require one to use the wrong pronouns, e.g., a police officer is talking a suicidal trans person down from a bridge. That might not be the best time to have an argument about pronouns. The police officer’s job at that moment is try try to save the life of a mentally ill person and to get them the treatment they need.
At work, however, it is a tyranny for HR to require, as a condition of employment (especially is that condition is not a pre-condition of employment) someone to say things that are simply untrue. If an employer may require me to treat Bruce Jenner as a female, what else may the employer require? Where does it stop?
It is objectively untrue that Bruce Jenner is a female. Humans have a natural right to say the truth and a natural right not to be forced to speak lies and lies that are patently obviously lies. The emperor is an emperess.
This is not an argument for cruelty or meanness and it may be that not all Christians will agree with this. I’m prepared to grant liberty to those who’ve reached different conclusions but I’m also quite prepared to support those who refuse to go along with social insanity.
Part of the issue is that the people pushing the pronoun issue are doing it deliberately and trying to force the issue on others. If the trans-person just wanted to “live and let live,” he or she would choose a new name that could be used by both men and women. There are reasons that these issues are showing up in courts and HR departments.
Complying with a demand that we actively AFFIRM someone’s gender identity is different from just using a preferred name.
To make this practical in my case: “Darrell,” when spelled “Daryl,” as in “Daryl Hannah,” can be a female name. My voice is at the upper edge of the male vocal range — not enough to be noticeable in person, but it’s sometimes a problem when talking on the phone to someone who doesn’t know me. Because my voice only slightly changed as a teenager, in college, I began using my full name, with an obviously male middle name. It reduced the problems caused by people who called me on the phone and assumed I was either “Darrell’s secretary” or had a conversation like this: “May I speak to Darrell?” “This is Darrell.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought Darrell was male.” Let’s just say due to the women in office controversies of the 1980s and early 1990s in the CRC, it caused all sorts of problems for people who had never met me and thought, at least for a while, that I was a woman at Calvin Seminary.
In other words, I made a point of using my full name to avoid problems and prevent confusion. It’s not a perfect solution, but the solution my mother was given by her journalism professors back in the 1950s, i.e., take up smoking to give her a deeper voice so men would take her more seriously, is not one I want to do. Apparently high-pitched voices are part of my family genetics.
If the trans people wanted peace and tolerance for themselves, there are ways they could get that.
I know some trans-people who basically want to wear the opposite gender’s clothes and be left alone. At least two live in our community and mostly avoid problems. They don’t bother me, I don’t bother them, and they’ve never “pushed the pronouns” on me, or as far as I know, on anyone else.
It’s the people pushing the issue who end up in court.