The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a group of grocery store workers cannot move forward with their claims of race-based discrimination and retaliation based on being disciplined for wearing face masks with the message “Black Lives Matter.”
Whole Foods employees at stores in California, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington filed suit against their employer, alleging violations of Title VII.
The Whole Foods dress code policy “prohibits employees from wearing clothing with visible slogans, messages, logos, or advertising that are not company-related.” The policy was generally unenforced until 2020.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, workers at Whole Foods began wearing face masks. Around June 2020, following the death of George Floyd and demonstrations protesting police violence and racial discrimination, Whole Foods employees began wearing masks with the message “Black Lives Matter.”
Whole Foods began to enforce the dress code policy, sent employees home without pay for refusing to remove their masks, and assigned them disciplinary points (which affect a worker’s eligibility for raises and can accrue to result in termination).
The affected employees filed suit in Massachusetts federal court asserting racial discrimination and retaliation. Whole Foods moved to dismiss, and the district court granted the motion.
A panel of the First Circuit affirmed.
The court found the employees’ allegations...
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