NASHVILLE (RNS) — The company owned by Christian financial guru and radio host Dave Ramsey is no longer one of the best places to work in America, according to Inc. magazine.
The national business publication dropped Franklin, Tennessee-based Ramsey Solutions from its 2020 “Best Workplaces” list after the company was sued by a former employee, Caitlin O’Conner, for discrimination. O’Connor claims she was fired from Ramsey Solutions after applying for family leave because she was pregnant.
Her lawsuit claims Ramsey Solutions “discriminates against employees who do not strictly adhere to Ramsey’s interpretation of ‘Judeo-Christian’ values for non-work related behavior.”
In court documents, Ramsey Solutions said O’Connor, who is not married, was fired for having premarital sex, which violated the company’s “righteous living” policy.
“There is no dispute that Plaintiff was aware of this rule and terminated for violating it,” Ramsey’s lawyer said in a March filing. The company also said that, since 2016, it has disciplined eight other employees, both men and women, for having premarital sex.
After learning of the lawsuit, Inc. dropped Ramsey Solutions from the “Best Workplaces” list.
“Ramsey has the right to manage its business in accordance with its values, and the court system will determine the merits of the lawsuit,” Inc. assistant editor Sophie Downes wrote in announcing the decision. “Upon learning about the company’s ‘righteous living’ policy and how it is applied, we believe that it is incompatible with our standards of organizational excellence and have made the editorial decision to remove the company from our 2020 Best Workplaces list.”
About 3,000 companies applied to be included on Inc.’s annual Best Workplaces list. The list seeks to recognize companies where people love to work, one that sets the standard for excellence in company,” according to Inc.
