Post Falls veteran fired after refusing pronouns, discrimination charges filed

A Post Falls manufacturing dispute is now a test case for Kootenai County employers, pitting religious accommodation claims against workplace discrimination rules and labor protections that reach well beyond one plant.

The charge filed June 2 names Adam Hahn, a 22-year U.S. Army combat veteran with five combat deployments and a 100% disability rating. The filing says Hahn worked for MOR Manufacturing at 5676 E. Seltice Way in Post Falls and was fired after refusing, on religious grounds, to use a transgender coworker’s name and pronouns.

The complaint says Hahn asked for a religious accommodation and was later disciplined after he gave coworkers information about Title VII and their right to seek an accommodation. It also says Hahn gave two weeks’ notice because of what he described as management hostility, then was fired during his final week on the job. The filing alleges the company described him as a workplace “distraction.”

The Idaho Family Policy Center’s IFPC Legal Center filed both a religious discrimination charge and an unfair labor practice charge on Hahn’s behalf. The discrimination claim is being directed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Idaho Human Rights Commission, while the labor charge will be reviewed by the National Labor Relations Board.

That split matters for employers in Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene and the rest of Kootenai County. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers must make reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs unless doing so would create an undue hardship. The Idaho Human Rights Act also bars certain forms of workplace discrimination. At the same time, NLRB guidance protects employees who act with co-workers about work-related issues and working conditions, including discussing wages, benefits and other workplace rights.

The companies named in the filing sit inside North Idaho’s traffic-safety manufacturing network. TraffiCalm says it began as MOR Manufacturing in North Idaho in 1988, and Pelco Solutions describes TraffiCalm as part of its brand family alongside Pelco Products and other companies.

For local businesses, public agencies and workers, the case could sharpen where religious accommodation ends, where anti-discrimination rules begin, and how far HR policies can reach when employees raise legal rights with one another. In a county where manufacturers, contractors and public employers all face similar policy questions, the outcome could help define the rules of the workplace for years to come.