A Pennsylvania transit agency’s policy prohibiting political and social adornments on employee uniforms that was updated to include Black Lives Matter messaging is likely unconstitutional and a lower court properly blocked its application against BLM supporters, the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday.

A subsequent policy revision by the Allegheny County Port Authority, which limited employees to wearing certain masks to allegedly make it easier for them to comply with the BLM messaging ban, also is likely unconstitutional and its enforcement was properly enjoined, the court said.

The agency, as a governmental entity, failed to meet its burden of showing each version of the policy was constitutional, the court said.

According to the agency, its uniform display policy was instituted in the 1970s and was updated once workers began wearing face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic with BLM messages stemming from the murder of George Floyd. The policy was changed again after the agency obtained enough face coverings to distribute to workers, the port authority said.

The US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in a January 2021 ruling blocked the updated policy after the port authority was sued by a union representing bus operators, supervisors, and other employees.

The agency didn’t make its showing on constitutionality with regard to...

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