Employees sue Whole Foods over alleged BLM mask discipline

(Reuters) — Whole Foods Market Inc. was sued on Monday by employees who accused the upscale grocery retailer of disciplining and retaliating against workers who wear “Black Lives Matter” face masks on the job, including one who said she was fired.

The complaint accused Whole Foods, a unit of Amazon.com Inc., of sending employees home without pay or threatening to fire them for wearing the masks, on the ground it violated the company’s dress code, even as it let workers conveying other messages continue doing so.

One plaintiff, Savannah Kinzer, said she was fired on Saturday after organizing co-workers to wear Black Lives Matter masks and protest Whole Foods’ discipline.

Whole Foods had no immediate comment. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.