Zach Lahn’s Iowa race puts a worker’s faith at stake

At his Oct. 7 Story County town hall in Nevada, Iowa, Lahn’s campaign said he met a man who had been fired from a job of 26 years for refusing to call a woman a man. Lahn is the Republican candidate for Iowa governor¹. On Oct. 10, Lahn’s campaign account posted the clip².

Lahn told the crowd he has read enough history to know "this is a planned assault" on the state's institutions¹. Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand debate again Oct. 14 in Sioux City, the first day of in-person absentee voting; Election Day is Nov. 3³.

The account raises the question Title VII answers: what must an employer prove before denying a religious accommodation? Justia’s summary of Groff says Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that granting it would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business. The Justia case summary states: “Bias or hostility to a religious practice or accommodation cannot supply a defense.”⁴ Every working family of faith depends on that rule being enforced.

Gerald Groff's case shows how this collision plays out in a household. A mail carrier whose faith set Sunday apart for worship was disciplined for missing Sunday shifts and eventually resigned. The Third Circuit sided with the Postal Service by treating anything beyond a de minimis cost as undue hardship. The Supreme Court wrote a different rule: hardship must be substantial in the overall context of the employer's business. Title VII also requires an employer to reasonably accommodate religious practice, not merely assess one proposed accommodation⁴. The standard asks an employer to prove a cost to its business. A coworker's discomfort does not count, and a family living on one paycheck is entitled to that rule.

1. May 15, 2025A Texas federal court vacated portions of the EEOC guidance nationwide.
2. January 22, 2026The EEOC voted to rescind the guidance.
3. Oct. 7Lahn held his Story County town hall in Nevada.
4. Oct. 10Lahn’s campaign account posted the clip.

26 years

Lahn said, “We’re actually here to protect the culture of the state that we love” and “make sure that we pass something down that is better.”¹ The Iowa State Daily reports Lahn saying, “They come because we are created in the image of God. That’s where rights come from, and unless you understand that you will not ever understand how to defend culture.” The legal ground under workers of faith has already moved. On May 15, 2025, a Texas federal court held that the Biden-era EEOC's expansion of the definition of sex in its harassment guidance was contrary to law, and vacated portions of that guidance nationwide⁵. Iowa moved too: AP reports the state became the first to remove gender identity protections from its civil rights code when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill. Those protections were not in Iowa's 1965 Civil Rights Act; a Democratic-controlled Legislature added them in 2007⁶. The next governor decides whether Iowa holds that ground for families.

The EEOC guidance stated the opposing case in its own words: harassing conduct includes "repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with [an] individual’s known gender identity." That rule passed by a 3-2 vote in 2024 over a dissent from Andrea Lucas, now the EEOC's acting chair⁵. If calling a co-worker by name serves everyone, why would any employer choose a pink slip instead?

The same guidance paired that pronoun rule with "denial of access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with [an] individual’s gender identity," and called both harassment under Title VII⁵. The EEOC then voted 2-1 on January 22, 2026, to rescind the guidance, and Chair Lucas said that does not "give employers license to engage in unlawful harassment⁷."

Iowa's attorney general should hear workers of faith who say they were pushed out, and every candidate for governor should say plainly whether he will protect them. Iowa voters can ask that question at every town hall between now and Election Day. When 26 years of work can vanish over the words a man will not say, every mother and father of faith learns to keep quiet to keep food on the table². No family's livelihood should hinge on a parent choosing between conscience and a paycheck.

Sources

1. Zach Lahn’s Story County Town Hall – Iowa State Daily
2. @LahnHQ on X, 2026-10-10: 🚨 MUST WATCH: At his town hall in Story County, Zach Lahn met a man who was fired from his job of 26 years for refusing to call a woman a man. "This is the ground zero example of what happens when you don't protect the culture of where you live." https://x.com/La, 2026-10-10
3. Iowa governor candidates Zach Lahn and Rob Sand hold first debate of midterm elections | Iowa Public Radio
4. Groff v. DeJoy | 600 U.S. ___ (2023) | Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center
5. Federal Court Vacates Portions of EEOC Harassment Guidance | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
6. Iowa governor signs bill removing gender identity protections | AP News
7. EEOC Commission Votes to Rescind 2024 Harassment Guidance