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Whole Foods Claims Constitutional Right to Disallow ‘Black Lives Matter’ Masks

  • U.S. says grocer illegally banned workers from wearing slogan
  • Company says labor law doesn’t cover Black Lives Matter masks
Demonstrators Protest Whole Foods For Dismissing Employees
Demonstrators Protest Whole Foods For Dismissing EmployeesPhotographer: Getty Images/Boston Globe
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U.S. labor board prosecutors are trying to violate Whole Foods Market’s copyright and constitutional rights by forcing it to let employees wear “Black Lives Matter” masks at work, the Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary claims.

In a Dec. 17 filing with the National Labor Relations Board, Whole Foods denied the agency general counsel’s allegations that the company violated federal labor law by banning employees from wearing “Black Lives Matter” insignia and punishing staff around the country who did. The filing is a response to the labor board’s accusation that by prohibiting Black Lives Matter messages at work, the company interfered with employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act to engage “in concerted activities for their mutual aid and protection.”