Iowa Workforce Development administers unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy of Iowa State)
An Iowa judge has ruled against a Fort Dodge man who said the First Amendment protected him from being fired for anti-Muslim rhetoric.
According to state records, Gregory L. Benfield worked for American Packaging in Story City from July 2022 through July 24, 2024, when he was fired for allegedly violating its harassment and discrimination policy. He later filed for unemployment benefits, which resulted in a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Carly Smith.
According to Smith’s recent written findings, on July 18, 2024, two American Packaging employees were having a workplace conversation about a Muslim friend when Benfield expressed the opinion “that Muslims were bad people.”
The two employees disagreed with Benfield, arguing that while every religion has followers who are bad, Muslims as a whole are not bad people. According to Smith’s findings, Benfield disagreed, citing the events of September 11, 2001 as evidence and arguing that Muslims should be vetted before entering the country, and that all Muslims now in the United States should be deported.
State records show that one of Benfield’s colleagues filed a complaint with human resources about Benfield’s comments, prompting an internal investigation that the company said uncovered other offensive statements.
Smith’s written findings state that Benfield admitted to making comments about “illegal immigrants” and suggesting they should all be deported.
In ruling that Benfield was not entitled to collect unemployment benefits, Smith noted that although Benfield is married to a Spanish woman, he had also “made discriminatory comments about the fact that all Muslims are bad people and should be deported.” . (Benfield) states that it is his personal opinion and should be protected by the First Amendment. However, the employer is a private entity that has the right to establish reasonable work rules and expect employees to adhere to them.”
Smith ruled that Benfield’s “discriminatory comments about Muslims were a deliberate disregard of the standard of conduct that the employer had a right to expect” from employees.
