Home Depot Punished Worker for Black Lives Matter Logo, Labor Board Says

“We cannot ignore that their deaths are part of a pattern of racism and reflect the harsh reality that as a nation we are much too far from fulfilling the promise of equal justice for all,” Craig Menear, the chief executive of Home Depot, said at the time.

Home Depot has in recent years tried to distance itself from political positions. In 2019, after a co-founder, Bernie Marcus, expressed his support for President Donald J. Trump, a spokeswoman noted that Mr. Marcus had retired and said that “as a standard practice, the company does not endorse presidential candidates.”

Home Depot’s dress code forbids employees to display “causes or political messages unrelated to workplace matters” on their aprons or work clothes, according to the complaint by Ms. Hadsall. The dress code is not unlawful, according to the labor board.

But the agency said the company violated the National Labor Relations Act because it enforced the dress code against an employee who wore a Black Lives Matter logo in an attempt to bring attention to racial discrimination and harassment at the store.

The employee’s name was redacted, and the complaint did not provide details about the discrimination that he described.

The employee began wearing the Black Lives Matter logo on his apron last August and started talking to co-workers and managers about “subjects such as ongoing discrimination and harassment,” the complaint said.

Sometime this year, the company told the employee he had to stop wearing the logo or leave. He refused and was suspended. According to the complaint, the company then repeated its demand: Stop wearing the logo or quit.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/business/home-depot-blm-employees.html