Court eviscerates employees’ suit against Whole Foods, Amazon for banning BLM attire

Whole Foods employees wearing Black Lives Matter (BLM) masks and attire filed a class action lawsuit against the grocery company and Amazon after being prohibited from wearing the gear with the BLM messaging and disciplined for doing it anyway. They alleged race-based discrimination and retaliation claims. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed almost all of the employees’ race-based claims. Although the court implied the two companies acted unfairly or unwisely toward the employees, it determined their actions weren’t unlawful.

Whole Foods’ dress code and the BLM movement

Whole Foods has maintained a company-wide dress code prohibiting employees from wearing clothing with visible slogans, messages, logos, and/or advertising that aren’t company-related. In the wake of George Floyd’s death and nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality, people around the country started showing their support for the BLM movement.

Beginning around June 2020, the Whole Foods employees demonstrated their support for the BLM movement by, among other things, wearing face masks and other attire with BLM messaging to work. As grocery store employees, they were required to wear masks because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.