Whole Foods employees disciplined for wearing Black Lives Matter masks, lawsuit says

Whole Foods employees in California, Massachusetts, Washington and New Hampshire have filed a class action lawsuit against the company, saying that the chain disciplined workers who wore Black Lives Matter masks.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleges that Whole Foods sent workers home without pay, threatened them with termination, and gave employees disciplinary “points” for wearing Black Lives Matter face coverings.

Savannah Kinzer, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, was fired on July 18 due to the “discipline she received for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask” and for “her involvement in leadership in organizing her co-workers to wear the masks and protesting Whole Foods’ discipline of employees for doing so,” according to the suit.

“In addition to being discriminatory, Whole Foods’ policy on Black Lives Matter face masks is hypocritical,” Kinzer told NBC Los Angeles. “Whole Foods states prominently on its website and on signs in its stores that ‘Racism has no place here,’ but won’t allow employees to express solidarity with Black lives.”

The lawsuit is seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent Whole Foods from further disciplining employees who wear the masks at work. The lawsuit also wants Whole Foods to expunge employee disciplinary records , to give back pay for workers who were sent home without pay, and to rehire Kinzer.

According to the lawsuit, Whole Foods said employees were disciplined for not adhering to the dress code, but employees have previously worn Pride flags to support LGBTQ+ co-workers and weren’t punished.

“While we cannot comment on pending litigation, it is critical to clarify that no Team Members have been terminated for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks or apparel,” Whole Foods told McClatchy News in a statement. “Savannah Kinzer was separated from the company for repeatedly violating our Time & Attendance policy by not working her assigned shifts, reporting late for work multiple times in the past nine days and choosing to leave during her scheduled shifts. It is simply untrue that she was separated from the company for wearing a Black Lives Matter face mask. As an employer we must uphold our policies in an equitable and consistent manner. Savannah had full understanding of our policies and was given a number of opportunities to comply.”

Several employees at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, Whole Foods said they were sent home for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks earlier in July, NBC Boston reported.

“When I first got into the job and applied, they were very inclusive about everything. Race, gender, age, anything,” Leavar Michael, a worker at the store, told the publication “And so now that they’re sending us home because we want to support a movement for human rights; it kind of contradicts what they’ve been preaching since I’ve applied for the job.”

Nationwide protests against police brutality have followed the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Whole Foods employees disciplined for wearing Black Lives Matter masks, lawsuit says."