Being Concerned About COVID Got Me Fired by Dave Ramsey: Suit

Employee says financial guru's company did not like him wearing mask, asking to work remote
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2021 1:23 AM CST
Suit: Dave Ramsey Fired Me for Being Concerned About COVID
In this July 29, 2009, file photo financial guru Dave Ramsey sits in his broadcasting studio in Brentwood, Tenn.   (AP Photo/Josh Anderson, File)

Brad Amos asked to work from home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was denied that request by his supervisors at Dave Ramsey's Tennessee-based company. He then chose to distance himself from colleagues and wear a mask at work, and says he was mocked, demoted, and ultimately fired as a result. Now the 45-year-old is suing Ramsey Solutions, the personal finance empire started by Ramsey, the well-known evangelical Christian anti-debt guru, the New York Times reports. The suit claims the company fostered a "cultlike" atmosphere in which anyone concerned about COVID was told they were experiencing "weakness of spirit" and instructed to rely on the power of prayer. Amos says he was not even allowed to work from home after someone in his department tested positive for COVID. Eventually, others were, but Amos was deemed "essential."

The religious discrimination suit says Amos was fired in July of last year "for taking scientifically prescribed precautions, as required by his sincerely held religious beliefs, in the COVID pandemic," and that Ramsey once threatened to fire anyone who complained to OSHA about the company's COVID protocols. It also says other workers were also mocked for wearing masks to meetings. The company's general counsel says such accusations are nonsense, noting he himself often wears masks to work, and claims Amos was fired because his work started to decline in quality and when a supervisor called him on it, Amos told the supervisor he was "arrogant." Amos' lawyer, in turn, denies that allegation. Ramsey has long criticized COVID-related lockdowns, called vaccine mandates "stupid," threw a large indoor maskless Christmas party last year, and, according to Religious News Service, allegedly called mask-wearers "wusses." (More COVID-19 stories.)

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