by wildcherry on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | Business, News | No Comments

“I’ve worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God,” Trevor Keezor said Tuesday. “I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country.”

The American flag button Keezer wore in the Florida store since March 2008 says “One nation under God, indivisible.”

Earlier this month, he began bringing a Bible to read during his lunch break at the store in the rural town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. That’s when he says The Home Depot management told him he would have to remove the button.

Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.

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“It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my country,” Keezer said.

A Home Depot spokesman said Keezer was fired because he violated the company’s dress code.

“This associate chose to wear a button that expressed his religious beliefs. The issue is not whether or not we agree with the message on the button,” Craig Fishel said. “That’s not our place to say, which is exactly why we have a blanket policy, which is long-standing and well-communicated to our associates, that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons.”

Fishel said Keezer was offered a company-approved pin that said, “United We Stand,” but he declined.

Tags: american flag button, god button, home depot fired man wearing american flag, indivisible, man fired for wearing american flag, man fired over God button, One nation under God