Workers of the South Lake Union Whole Foods protest against store management not allowing workers to wear Black Lives Matter apparel in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
(Reuters) - An appeals court ruling last month that said Whole Foods and its parent Amazon.com Inc can’t be sued for disciplining workers who wore “Black Lives Matter” face masks demonstrates the precarious nature of Americans’ rights on the job.
The June 28 decision by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals further restricts employees’ ability to change their working conditions at a time when U.S. workplaces have become a locus of divisive cultural battles and disagreements over some Americans’ basic rights.
For instance, days before the ruling, Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook and Instagram, moved to limit internal discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion. A spokesperson for Meta on Friday declined comment on the company's internal policies.
The Whole Foods case was brought in July 2020 by a multi-racial group of more than two dozen employees who claimed the company violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in the workplace. The statue also prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who oppose bias.
The lawsuit, a proposed nationwide class action, alleged that Whole Foods selectively...
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - A New York man and two companies he operates agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act, according to the Department of Justi...