Lawsuit: Whole Foods Discriminated Against Workers Wearing Black Lives Matter Face Masks
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) -- Whole Foods workers filed a class action lawsuit against the supermarket on Monday. The suit claims Whole Foods is retaliating against workers who wore "Black Lives Matter" face masks on the job.
The policy has been the subject of protests for the last month. According to the complaint, workers who wore the masks were sent home, harassed and fired.
Fourteen employees filed the lawsuit, including workers at Whole Foods stores in Cambridge and Bedford, New Hampshire.
Whole Foods has a dress code prohibiting slogans or logos that aren't affiliated with the company, but workers argue that other messages like rainbow flags and sports team logos have been allowed in the past.
Plaintiff Savannah Kinzer, who worked at the Cambridge Whole Foods, said in a statement she was let go by the company for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask.
"In addition to being discriminatory, Whole Foods' policy on Black Lives Matter facemasks is hypocritical," she said. "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."
Whole Foods said in a statement to WBZ-TV that Kinzer no longer works for the company because she did not work her assigned shifts and was late multiple times - not because she wore a Black Lives Matter face mask.
"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," a Whole Foods spokesperson said.