Whole Foods Punished Workers for Black Lives Matter Masks, Suit Says

From colorful patterns and vegetable prints to SpongeBob SquarePants, creative masks have been embraced by Whole Foods employees across the country since the pandemic began.

But according to 14 employees at Whole Foods stores in California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington State, the company drew the line at Black Lives Matter masks, apparel and pins. The workers were sent home without pay, subjected to “corrective” discipline and threatened with the loss of their jobs for refusing to remove the items, a class-action lawsuit filed on Monday in Federal District Court in Massachusetts said.

The company, which is owned by Amazon, did not enforce its dress code policy when employees wore messages on masks and apparel expressing support for other entities and causes, such as sports teams and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, the lawsuit said.

One of the workers, Savannah Kinzer, was fired on Saturday from her job in Cambridge, Mass., for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask and for protesting Whole Foods’ “discipline of employees” for doing so, the lawsuit said. She also encouraged co-workers to wear the masks.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/business/whole-foods-black-lives-matter.html