Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has told MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred that the Trump administration has referred the league to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for review after Major League Baseball warned San Francisco Giants pitchers for writing Bible verse references on Pride Night caps.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday saying the Trump administration had referred Major League Baseball to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for scrutiny over whether the league’s response to players’ religious expression violated federal employment law.
In the letter, Dhillon argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars employers from unreasonably burdening employees’ religious exercise. She also questioned MLB’s explanation that its concern was limited to uniform rules, pointing to instances in which players have worn “Black Lives Matter” patches as a potential double standard.
The dispute stems from the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night on June 12, when starting pitcher Landen Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker took the field wearing caps with a rainbow-colored “SF” logo and added Bible verse references in marker. Roupp wrote “Gen 9:12-16,” a passage that includes a reference to a rainbow.
Major League Baseball later warned the players that writing on the cap violated league uniform policy. MLB said the warning was consistent with standard practice and was about altering the equipment—not the content of the message—and described it as non-disciplinary.
The incident drew criticism from several Republican officials. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley sent Manfred a letter seeking details about MLB’s policies, while Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said publicly that his office would be in contact with the league.
Dhillon said the administration would use available legal tools to hold employers accountable for violations of workers’ religious rights.
