1st Circuit tosses appeal of employees banned from wearing BLM attire at work
Last year, a federal district court in Massachusetts was faced with determining whether Whole Foods and Amazon retaliated and discriminated against employees who were sent home without pay or otherwise disciplined for wearing Black Lives Matter (BLM) face masks at work. The district court dismissed almost all of the race-based and retaliation claims filed by the employees. They appealed to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, but it agreed with the lower court’s ruling. Here’s what happened.
Whole Foods dress code policy and the BLM movement
Whole Foods, whose parent company is Amazon, maintained a company-wide dress code which prohibited employees from wearing clothing with visible slogans, messages, logos, and/or advertising that weren’t Whole Foods-related. According to the employees, the company generally didn’t enforce the policy. For example, employees previously wore a variety of items that violated the dress code (e.g., items with LGBTQ+ messaging and NRA messaging), but they weren’t disciplined.
Beginning around June 2020, a group of employees demonstrated their support for the BLM movement by wearing face masks and other attire with the movement’s messaging to work. Whole Foods disciplined the employees by sending them home without pay or giving them disciplinary points, which accumulated and could affect their wages and employment.