Hobby Lobby

==Controversies==
The business and its owners have been the subject of controversies and scandals including accusations of [[antisemitism]], [[homophobia]], LGBTQ [[discrimination]], attempts to evangelize public schools, "efforts to deny access to [[contraceptive]]s for employees," "discrimination and illegally smuggled artifacts [and] endangering employees during the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]]."<ref name="Biron_Schlitz_9/10/2020">{{cite news |last1=Biron |first1=Bethany |last2=Schlitz |first2=Heather |title=Here are 16 of the biggest controversies in the craft chain's nearly 50-year history. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-biggest-controversies-in-hobby-lobby-history-2020-9 |access-date=July 28, 2021 |publisher=Business Insider |date=September 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Biron |first1=Bethany |title=16 of the biggest controversies in Hobby Lobby's 50-year history — from denying contraceptives for employees to illegally smuggling ancient tablets |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-biggest-controversies-in-hobby-lobby-history-2020-9 |access-date=12 February 2024 |publisher=Business Insider |date=21 October 2022}}</ref>

=== Opposition to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ===
{{main|Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.}}
David Green took a public stance against the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]],<ref name="bi_davidgreen">{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/hobby-lobby-ceo-david-greens-obamacare-statement-2013-9|title=Hobby Lobby CEO: Here's Why Obamacare Is A Total Affront To My Religious Beliefs|first=David|last=Green|date=September 18, 2013|website=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=2020-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016174419/https://www.businessinsider.com/hobby-lobby-ceo-david-greens-obamacare-statement-2013-9|archive-date=2015-10-16|url-status=live}}</ref> citing its mandating that companies provide access to [[Contraceptive mandate|contraception]] and the [[morning-after pill]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Graber|first=Mark|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3629100080/GVRL?u=epfl&sid=GVRL&xid=25fd7bcd|title=American Governance|publisher=Gale|year=2016|isbn=9780028662558|location=Farmington Hills, MI|pages=178}}</ref>  In September 2012, Hobby Lobby filed a [[Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby|lawsuit]] against the United States over new regulations requiring health insurance provided by employers to cover emergency contraceptives.

Hobby Lobby released the following statement: "[T]he Green family's religious beliefs forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in, or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A302305930/ITOF?u=baltctycpl&sid=ITOF&xid=fd1b098c.|title=Retailer, family sue over contraception|date=September 13, 2012|work=UPI Newstrack|access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref>  Hobby Lobby argued that the Free Exercise Clause of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]] and the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act]] serve to protect their religious beliefs, and accordingly bars the application of the contraceptive mandate to them.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scudder|first=Mark D. |author2=Barnes & Thornburg LLP |title=It's Official – The Supreme Court Announces That It Will Review The Contraceptive Mandate|journal=The National Law Review|date=November 28, 2013|url=http://www.natlawreview.com/article/it-s-official-supreme-court-announces-it-will-review-contraceptive-mandate|access-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] rejected the company's application for an injunction, prompting the firm to sue the federal government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/26/supreme-court-denies-hobby-lobby-request-for-reprieve-from-health-care-mandate/|title=Supreme Court denies Hobby Lobby request for reprieve from health care mandate|date=2012-12-26|work=Fox News|access-date=2013-10-08|publisher=Fox News}}</ref> On July 19, 2013, US District Judge [[Joe Heaton]] granted the company a temporary exemption from the contraceptive-providing mandate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hobbylobby-contraception-idUSBRE96I0SW20130719|title=Hobby Lobby wins a stay against birth control mandate|last=Stempel|first=Jonathan|date=July 19, 2013|work=Reuters|access-date=2013-10-08|publisher=Reuters.com}}</ref> On January 28, 2014, the [[Center for Inquiry]] filed an [[amicus brief]] with the Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/cfi_tells_supreme_court_hobby_lobby/|title=Press release – Amicus brief to Supreme Court|date=January 28, 2014|website=Center For Inquiry|access-date=February 6, 2014}}</ref> They argued that were the court to grant Hobby Lobby an exclusion, the firm would violate the [[Establishment Clause]], along with part of the First Amendment. Oral arguments in the case, then known as ''[[Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby]],'' were heard on March 25, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/13-354_5436.pdf|website=SupremeCourt.gov|title=Oral Arguments: Argument transcripts|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326024552/http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/13-354_5436.pdf|archive-date=2014-03-26|url-status=dead}}</ref>  On June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that Hobby Lobby and other "closely held" stock corporations can choose to be exempt from the law based on religious preferences, based on the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993]] but not on the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-exempts-some-companies-from-health-care-law-on-religious-grounds-1404138333?mod=djemalertNEWS|work=The Wall Street Journal|title=Supreme Court Exempts Some Companies From Health Care Law On Religious Grounds |pages= A1, A6 |date=July 1, 2014 |last=Bravin|first=Jess}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=Reason.com|url=http://reason.com/blog/2014/06/30/supreme-court-rules-against-obamacares-c|date=June 30, 2014|title=Supreme Court Rules Against Obamacare}}</ref> 

In November 2022, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported on a possible leak of the ''Hobby Lobby'' decision about two weeks prior to its formal announcement; this story was published following the leak and decision of ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'' in June 2022 which overturned ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' on abortion rights. Reverend Rob Schenck wrote to both Chief Justice John Roberts and to the ''Times'' stating that he had been told of which way ''Hobby Lobby'' was to be decided though a close associate after Schenck and his wife had a dinner party with Justice [[Samuel Alito]] and his wife. At the time, Schenck used that information to inform Hobby Lobby and other religious organizations to prepare for the formal announcement of the decision. Schenck had opted to reveal this information in 2022 to aid in the investigation of the ''Dobbs'' decision leak.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/us/supreme-court-leak-abortion-roe-wade.html | title =   Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme Court Breach | first1 = Jodi | last1 = Kantor | first2 = Jo | last2=  Becker | date = November 19, 2022 | accessdate = November 19, 2022 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> In 2011 through their connection to the Historical Society, Hobby Lobby's owners attended a Christmas party in Supreme Court chambers shortly before litigation was initiated which became ''[[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.]]'', 573 U.S. 682 (2014).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lithwick |first1=Dahlia |title=The Real Problem With the Second Alleged Leak at the Court |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/alito-leak-hobby-lobby-real-problem.html |access-date=27 November 2022 |publisher=Slate |date=22 November 2022}}</ref>

=== Items relating to Jewish holidays ===
In September 2013, a shopper reported being told by a store employee in [[Marlboro, New Jersey]], that Hobby Lobby did not carry merchandise celebrating Jewish holidays, as the store did not "[[Antisemitism|cater to you people]]." David Green issued a formal apology to the [[Anti-Defamation League]], who accepted it in a published statement.<ref>{{Cite web|last=JTA|title=ADL Accepts Hobby Lobby Apology|date=5 October 2013 |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/adl-accepts-hobby-lobby-apology/2013/10/05/|access-date=2021-05-16|language=en-US}}</ref>   In addition, Steve Green, the son of David Green, issued a statement that the stores had carried Jewish items in the past, and would be testing the market to do so in the future.<ref name = Snopes/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hobby Lobby will offer Jewish holiday items|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-10/hobby-lobby-will-offer-jewish-holiday-items|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Christian Century|language=en}}</ref> In 2017, [[Snopes]] re-examined this issue and reported the claim that Hobby Lobby was still not selling Jewish holiday merchandise was "Outdated."<ref name = Snopes>{{cite web |last1=Emery |first1=David |title=Does Hobby Lobby Refuse to Sell Jewish Holiday Items? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hobby-lobby-refuse-sell-jewish-holiday-items/ |website=Snopes.com |publisher=Snopes |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200415180022/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hobby-lobby-refuse-sell-jewish-holiday-items/ |archive-date=15 April 2020 |date=9 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Smuggling and collections management controversies===
{{main|Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal}}
Beginning in 2009, representatives of Hobby Lobby were warned that artifacts they were purchasing were probably looted from Iraq.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A537149082/STND?u=baltctycpl&sid=STND&xid=55faf870|title=United States Returns Thousands of Ancient Artifacts to Iraq|date=May 3, 2018|work=Targeted News Service|access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref> The purchases had been made for the [[Museum of the Bible]], which the company was sponsoring. In early July 2017, US federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint in the [[Eastern District of New York]] under the case name ''United States of America v. Approximately Four Hundred Fifty Ancient Cuneiform Tablets and Approximately Three Thousand Ancient Clay Bullae''.<ref name=GreenAtlantic>{{cite news|first=Emma|last=Green|title=Hobby Lobby Purchased Thousands of Ancient Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/hobby-lobby-smuggled-thousands-of-ancient-artifacts-out-of-iraq/532743/|date=2017-07-05}}</ref> On July 5, 2017, Hobby Lobby consented to a settlement requiring forfeiture of the artifacts, the payment of a fine of $3 million, and the return of over 5500 artifacts.<ref>{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Mike |title=Hobby Lobby fined $3M over 5,500 smuggled Iraqi artifacts |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/07/05/hobby-lobby-fined-3m-over-smuggled-iraqi-artifacts/103457614/ |access-date=November 18, 2019 |publisher=USA Today |date=July 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name="nyt-artifacts">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyregion/hobby-lobby-artifacts-smuggle-iraq.html|title=Hobby Lobby Agrees to Forfeit 5,500 Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq|last=Feuer|first=Alan|date=2017-07-05|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-07-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/05/hobby-lobby-fine-iraq-240245|title=Hobby Lobby agrees to $3 million fine, forfeiture of thousands of Iraqi relics|first=Diamond Naga|last=Siu|website=Politico|date=5 July 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/spotlight-hobby-lobby-s-biblical-collection-after-smuggle-case-n780286|title=Spotlight on Hobby Lobby's Biblical Collection After Smuggle Case|date=July 6, 2017|first1=Tracy|last1=Connor|first2=Daniel|last2=Arkin|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=May 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-thousands-ancient-artifacts-seized-hobby-lobby-iraq|title=ICE returns thousands of ancient artifacts seized from Hobby Lobby to Iraq|date=February 5, 2018|publisher=U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|access-date=May 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Mike |title=Hobby Lobby fined $3M over 5,500 smuggled Iraqi artifacts |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/07/05/hobby-lobby-fined-3m-over-smuggled-iraqi-artifacts/103457614/ |access-date=18 November 2019 |work=[[USA Today]] |date=6 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=McGlone|first=Peggy|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-hobby-lobby-artifacts-iraq-20180502-story.html |title=Hobby Lobby forced to return artifacts to Iraq|date=May 2, 2018|work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |agency=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref>

In April 2020, the centerpiece of the Museum of the Bible's collection, the fragments of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], were declared to be fakes.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mashberg|first=Tom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/arts/bible-museum-artifacts.html |title=Bible Museum, Admitting Mistakes, Tries to Convert Its Critics|date=April 6, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> After its authenticity was questioned, the museum removed the display of a miniature bible which a [[NASA]] astronaut had purportedly carried to the moon.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ken |title=Museum of the Bible quietly replaces questioned artifact |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/museum-bible-quietly-replaces-questioned-133334693.html |access-date=18 November 2019 |publisher=[[Yahoo! Lifestyle]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=5 October 2019}}</ref>

Board chairman Steve Green, who is also president of the Hobby Lobby stores, also announced the museum would be returning over eleven thousand artifacts to Egypt and Iraq. The collection included thousands of papyrus scraps and ancient clay pieces. [[University of Manchester]] [[papyrology|papyrologist]], [[Roberta Mazza]], stated that the Green family "poured millions on the legal and illegal antiquities market without having a clue about the history, the material features, cultural value, fragilities, and problems of the objects".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cascone |first1=Sarah |title=Amid Scrutiny, the Museum of the Bible's Founder Will Return a Staggering 11,500 Artifacts of Dubious Origin to the Middle East |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/museum-of-bible-founder-returns-more-ancient-artifacts-1819623 |access-date=18 April 2020 |publisher=ArtNet News |date=30 March 2020}}</ref>

In January 2021, the chairman of the board of the Museum of the Bible, Steve Green, released the following statement: “We transferred control of the fine art storage facility that housed the 5,000 Egyptian items to the U.S. government as part of a voluntary administrative process. We understand the U.S. government has now delivered the papyri to Egyptian officials". That was in addition to 8000 clay objects transferred to Baghdad's Iraq Museum.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Caroline |title=The Museum of the Bible Must Once Again Return Artifacts, This Time an Entire Warehouse of 5,000 Egyptian Objects |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/museum-bible-returns-objects-egypt-1940432 |access-date=31 January 2021 |publisher=Artnet |date=29 January 2021}}</ref>

The returned items include the "Gilgamesh Dream Tablet", containing part of the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', discovered in Iraq in 1853, sold by the Jordanian Antiquities Association to an antiquities dealer in 2003,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Meier|first=Martin Gottlieb With Barry|date=2003-05-01|title=Aftereffects: The Plunder; Of 2,000 Treasures Stolen in Gulf War of 1991, Only 12 Have Been Recovered|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/world/aftereffects-plunder-2000-treasures-stolen-gulf-war-1991-only-12-have-been.html|access-date=2020-05-19|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and sold again by [[Christie's]] auction house to Hobby Lobby in 2014, for $1.6 million. The auction house lied about how the artifact had entered the market, claiming it had been on the market in the United States for decades. In September 2019, federal authorities seized the tablet, and in May 2020, a civil complaint was filed to forfeit it.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Authorities announce forfeiture of ancient Gilgamesh tablet from Hobby Lobby's Museum of the Bible|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/authorities-announce-forfeiture-gilgamesh-tablet-hobby-lobby-s-museum-bible-n1209851|last=Stelloh|first=Tim|date=18 May 2020|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Civil action filed to forfeit rare cuneiform tablet from Hobby Lobby|url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/civil-action-filed-forfeit-rare-cuneiform-tablet-hobby-lobby|website=www.ice.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref> In July 2021 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York officially ordered the forfeiture of the tablet by Hobby Lobby.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rare Cuneiform Tablet Bearing Portion of Epic of Gilgamesh Forfeited to United States |date=27 July 2021 |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/rare-cuneiform-tablet-bearing-portion-epic-gilgamesh-forfeited-united-states |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |access-date=8 April 2023}}</ref> Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, for the Eastern District of New York, stated: “This office is committed to combating the black-market sale of cultural property and the smuggling of looted artifacts”. Hobby Lobby failed to follow expert advice on antiquities collecting which has resulted in multiple seizures and fines.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rare Cuneiform Tablet Bearing Portion of Epic of Gilgamesh Forfeited to United States |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/rare-cuneiform-tablet-bearing-portion-epic-gilgamesh-forfeited-united-states |website=United States Department of Justice |date=27 July 2021 |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stieb |first1=Matt |title=DOJ Seizes Tablet of Stolen 'Epic of Gilgamesh' From Hobby Lobby |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/doj-seizes-hobby-lobbys-stolen-piece-of-epic-of-gilgamesh.html |access-date=28 July 2021 |publisher=New York Magazine}}</ref>

===Reaction to COVID-19 pandemic===
In late March 2020, as the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] swept the globe and state and local administrations were issuing stay-at-home orders, Hobby Lobby announced its stores would remain open. The company claimed to be an essential service as they sell fabric and school supplies.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/pinched-by-shutdown-orders-hobby-lobby-closes-stores/2020/04/03/2d1ab4c4-7605-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html|title=Pinched by shutdown orders, Hobby Lobby closes stores|date=April 3, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 14, 2020}}{{dead link|date=November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ricciardi |first1=Tiney  |title=Hobby Lobby remains open in defiance of Colorado's stay-at-home order, highlighting uncertainty around mandate |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/30/hobby-lobby-coronavirus-closures-colorado/ |access-date=31 March 2020 |publisher=The Denver Post |date=31 March 2020}}</ref> In a reversal, in April 2020, Hobby Lobby closed all stores and furloughed nearly all employees without pay, announcing that they were "ending emergency leave pay and suspending use of company provided paid time off benefits and vacation."<ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Jeffery |date=April 3, 2020 |title=Hobby Lobby to Close All Stores, Furlough Employees with no pay after Claiming to be 'Essential Business' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/hobby-lobby-close-all-stores-furlough-employees-no-pay-after-claiming-essential-business-1496054 |work=Newsweek}}</ref>

=== Gender non-conforming access to bathrooms at stores ===
[[Trans woman]] Meggan Sommerville won a unanimous decision in [[Illinois]] state appellate court that she has the right to use women's room at work on August 13, 2021. She had been an employee there for 22 years, [[gender transitioning|transitioned]] in July 2010, was written up at work for using the women's room in early 2011 and started pursuing legal remedies in February 2013. The decision also allows her to pursue the {{US$|220000}} in damages awarded by the Illinois Human Rights Commission.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schoenberg|first=Nara|title=Illinois court sides with transgender woman in her 10-year battle with Hobby Lobby over the right to use the women's restroom at work|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-transgender-discrimination-hobby-lobby-tt-20210818-eppqa22sbngengmsfkoqkma32a-story.html|access-date=2021-09-13|website=chicagotribune.com|date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824145921/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-transgender-discrimination-hobby-lobby-tt-20210818-eppqa22sbngengmsfkoqkma32a-story.html|archive-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref>

=== "He Gets Us" Campaign ===
The billionaire Green family has been criticized for contributing millions of dollars to the [[Servant Foundation]] which funds anti-LGBTQ legislation, has supported Supreme Court decisions which denied medical coverage for contraception based on religious beliefs and funds the [[Alliance Defending Freedom]]. The most public use of these funds has been the "[[He Gets Us]]" campaign during [[Super Bowl]] commercial breaks. The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] lists the Alliance Defending Freedom as a hate group.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Willingham |first1=AJ |title=The truth behind the 'He Gets Us' ads for Jesus airing during the Super Bowl |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/us/he-gets-us-super-bowl-commercials-cec/index.html |access-date=12 February 2024 |publisher=CNN |date=13 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Matthew |title=Billionaire family aims to convert Super Bowl fans with 'haters' campaign |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/billionaire-family-aims-to-convert-super-bowl-fans-with-haters-campaign/ar-BB1i8j68 |access-date=12 February 2024 |publisher=MSN |date=12 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alliance Defending Freedom |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/alliance-defending-freedom |website=splcenter.org |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref>