Firm bans all attire deemed political

HEATH — Janiqua Simon, a Black woman who said she was harassed for wearing a Black Lives Matter pin to work at Bionetics, can no longer wear the pin at the Heath facility.

Bionetics recently announced a new policy banning all forms of expression about contentious political or social issues, such as “Make America Great Again,” “Defund The Police,” “Back The Blue” or “Say Her Name.”

Simon filed a discrimination charge against Bionetics with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission on June 25 and has a hearing Sept. 11 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was placed on paid administrative leave for her own protection, but has since returned to work.

The company said it had no choice but to ban all such expression to keep the peace. Simon said the policy was put in place to appease those who have been harassing her.

Simon, an optics measurement technician, said she was warned about wearing the pin in an email and phone call, but has not seen a written policy. She said the policy was put in place two days after Bionetics sent its response to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

“Their response was I was not violating any policy and Bionetics supports Black Lives Matter,” Simon said. “Two days later, the policy is no political talk, signs, etc. allowed at work.”

Simon said expressing support for gay pride or Black Lives Matter is a human rights issue, not political.

Susan Hayes, the Bionetics human resources director in Virginia, said there was no policy until a couple of weeks ago. She acknowledged it was in response to complaints from Simon and others at the Heath site.

“She complained about people wearing Trump hats and other people complained about other things, so I put in a policy that none of it is allowed," Hayes said. “We didn’t have any problem with it before. She also complained about the American flag, but I’m not going to ban the American flag.”

Penny Griffin, technical order editor at Bionetics, said she received notice Aug. 19 that employees cannot display anything of a political nature, for or against a political party or political candidate. Then, she said she was told the new policy would also ban references to sexual orientation.

“I agree political campaigning should not be done in the workplace,” said Griffin, who is a lesbian. “You can’t really take gay pride and assign a political party to that.

“How can I express my sexual orientation? I have a ‘Gender is a Universe’ T-shirt. Is that allowed now? Or lesbian pride colors. It’s definitely uncertain for me because I don’t know. I have rainbow shirts. I’m still unclear if it’s OK. I feel more scrutinized than ever before.”

When asked if the ban includes Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ references, Hayes responded, "It includes all those things. I had no choice.”

Griffin said there is a stark contrast between Bionetics and Boeing at the building where Bionetics employees work. She said Boeing has huge banners, framed photographs and displays celebrating diversity in its main hallway. And, she said, one hallway has a large rainbow-striped banner.

“And then I enter the Bionetics area and I see ‘Stand for the flag, kneel for the cross,’ and U.S. flags with the single blue stripe and punisher skulls on a daily basis, before this new policy.

“The company did not make any policy changes based on any of these items. Only after a Black woman was brave enough to wear a Black Lives Matter pin did the company step in. Enforcing silence on the oppressed is not a neutral stance. It is siding with the oppressors.”

Simon also described a workplace where employees do not take the coronavirus pandemic seriously, mock health protections and make anonymous accusations in notes placed around the office.

Mary Turocy, spokeswoman for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, said the discrimination charge is still pending. She said cases typically take six to nine months to investigate. During the investigation and mediation stage, everything is kept confidential, Turocy said.

The parties could settle or the commission could rule “probable cause” or “no probable cause.”

A “probable cause” ruling would move the case to a hearing before an administrative law judge, who would make a recommendation to the commission whether discrimination occurred. The full commission could dismiss or order damages be paid. Each side could appeal.

Bionetics, which had 97 employees at Heath in 2018, performs calibration and measurement services for the U.S. Air Force and provides engineering, sustainment, test equipment and spare parts for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Minuteman III Guidance Set.