Whole Foods’ Loss in BLM Mask Case Turned on Policy Deviations

Whole Foods Market Inc.’s firing of a Massachusetts worker who wore a “Black Lives Matter” face mask “deviated” from the company’s normal disciplinary processes, a federal appeals court said in explaining its April 12 revival of a discrimination case against the supermarket chain.

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit had kept its opinion under seal until Wednesday, when it revealed its analysis of why a Massachusetts federal district court wrongly dismissed Savannah Kinzer’s claims of retaliatory firing under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Her lawsuit was among several cases addressing civil rights apparel in ...