Evangelist radio host Dave Ramsey fired worker who wanted COVID precautions, suit says
When Brad Amos left his six-figure job editing movie trailers in Los Angeles to work for a Christian evangelist in Tennessee, his lawyers said he expressed concern about rumors that described the company as more “cult-like than Christian.”
Company officials reportedly assured him it was not, and Amos took the job.
Over the next year, Amos went through an on-boarding process that his lawyers equated to indoctrination. They said Amos was “harassed” about his family and personal life, ridiculed for wearing a face mask and told to “check his humility” when he sought better COVID-19 precautions in the workplace.
Then the company fired him, his lawyers said.
Now Amos is suing in federal court, saying Christian radio personality Dave Ramsey and his company Ramsey Solutions fired him in retaliation for holding religious beliefs that aligned with science instead of trying to “pray away the disease” — as Ramsey reportedly encouraged his followers and employees to do.
In a statement to McClatchy News on Thursday, Dec. 16, a representative for Ramsey Solutions denied the allegations and said Amos was “fired during a meeting to discuss his poor performance with his leaders, where he insulted his most senior leader.”
“He was not terminated for his religious beliefs or how he wanted to handle COVID,” the company said. “Ramsey Solutions’ stance has always been that we will comply with applicable laws and regulations related to COVID. The company is fully prepared to defend this lawsuit and prevail. It appears its only goal is to smear Ramsey Solutions’ reputation and extort a large settlement.”
Working for Ramsey Solutions
Amos — who describes himself as a Christian — worked in LA for 13 years and earned $240,000 a year before a recruiter at Ramsey Solutions reached out with a potential job as a senior video editor in May 2019, according to the Dec. 13 complaint filed in the Middle District of Tennessee.
Dave Ramsey started Ramsey Solutions to provide “financial counseling and education,” according to its LinkedIn page. In addition to financial advice, the company produces Dave Ramsey’s radio program “The Ramsey Show” and hosts live events and conferences across the U.S. It’s based in Franklin, Tennessee.
Lawyers for Amos said he went through an extensive interview process at Ramsey Solutions that included conversations with his spouse, a “spousal dinner” and “personality testing.”
Amos shared his religious values during this process, his lawyers said, and asked about rumors regarding a “cult-like” work environment at Ramsey Solutions. Supervisors in the video department reportedly told him that was not the case, pointing instead to a “family friendly” workplace.
Amos started at the company in August 2019 with an annual salary of $90,000 plus a $10,000 relocation bonus, the lawsuit states.
During on-boarding, his attorneys said, Amos was taught about “The Ramsey Way,” which encouraged employees to offer constant praise of Dave Ramsey. Amos was also reportedly told about the company’s core values, to include “no gossip” or “backstabbing.”
Attorneys said part of Amos’s job included filling out weekly personal reports about his happiness that “often asked for deeply personal information” as well as attending weekly one-on-one meetings where he was asked about work and his home life.
Amos received positive feedback after his first few months on the job, the complaint states, and he began making plans to move his family from California to Tennessee in March 2020 — just as the coronavirus pandemic was hitting.
His lawyers said Amos’s wife has a “predisposition for pneumonia” and his son has Coat’s disease, putting them at high risk if they contracted COVID-19. Amos was reportedly concerned about keeping them safe after they moved to Tennessee.
COVID precautions were ‘weakness of spirit’
Ramsey Solutions reported its first confirmed case of the virus in Amos’s department on March 15, 2020, according to the complaint. Roughly 900 employees were reportedly called to an in-person meeting the following day.
Amos’s lawyers said Dave Ramsey told them they would not be working from home and “actively denigrated any opposing religious beliefs that supported taking preventative measures” against the virus. Dave Ramsey reportedly said a fear of working in the office showed “weakness of spirit.”
When Amos later expressed concerns about the lack of safety precautions to a higher-up in the video department, his attorney said, he was told to “pray and keep moving forward.”
Around the same time, Amos’s wife reportedly shared a post on Facebook criticizing the governor’s lack of COVID-19 safety precautions. His attorneys said employees at Ramsey Solutions must have seen the post because it was later brought up in a meeting with his supervisors.
During the April meeting, they reportedly questioned whether she was adjusting well to life in Tennessee and instructed Amos to “get her on the same page” regarding her views on the pandemic.
They also reportedly told Amos to “check his humility.”
His lawyers said the situation continued to dissolve over the next several months, with no COVID-19 restrictions in the workplace and employees being told to “pray away the disease.” Ramsey Solutions also continued holding mass meetings with hundreds of employees, during which “the use of masks and social distancing was frowned upon,” according to the complaint.
Amos, however, continued to wear a face mask and practice social distancing at work, his lawyers said.
“During Plaintiff’s employment, defendant Ramsey Solutions would regularly and aggressively promote their own religious beliefs against COVID-19 precautions while also demeaning plaintiff’s religious beliefs supporting these measures to care for the wellbeing and safety of his family,” the complaint states.
Amos was eventually fired on July 31, 2020, after he was told he had a “lack of humility,” his lawyers said.
Filing suit
The lawsuit accuses Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions of retaliatory discharge, religious discrimination and fraud. Lawyers for Amos said it was his sincerely held religious belief as a Christian to do “unto others as you would have them do unto you,” such as protecting the health and safety of those around him — including his “high-risk” wife and son.
“(Ramsey Solutions) terminated plaintiff for taking scientifically prescribed precautions, as required by his sincerely held religious beliefs, in the COVID pandemic rather than relying on prayer alone to protect himself,” his lawyers said.
They also said company officials lied about the work environment during Amos’s interview process by denying it was “cult-like.”
Amos is seeking repayment of his wages, damages and attorneys’ fees. Court filings show neither Dave Ramsey nor Ramsey Solutions have responded to the complaint.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Evangelist radio host Dave Ramsey fired worker who wanted COVID precautions, suit says."
