A Home Depot employee who wore a Black Lives Matter logo on his apron alleges in a new lawsuit that he was instructed to either remove the logo or quit his job.
The employee left his job.
The Minneapolis branch of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a statement on Wednesday accusing Home Depot of constructive discharge. The NLRB says Home Depot “unlawfully enforced its otherwise lawful dress code” and “threatened employees not to engage in activity regarding racial harassment.”
The former employee has not been publicly identified. However, it appears the worker engaged in “various conversations with coworkers, supervisors, and managers about subjects such as ongoing discrimination and harassment” at the store in Minneapolis.
Speaking to Insider, Home Depot alleges the complaint “misrepresents the relevant facts.”
“The Home Depot does not tolerate workplace harassment of any kind and takes all reports of discrimination or harassment seriously, as we did in this case,” a spokeswoman said. “We disagree with the characterization of this situation and look forward to sharing the facts during the NLRB’s process.”
Home Depot is not the only major retailer to face such a lawsuit.
Whole Foods was also employees who say they were punished for Black Lives Matter apparel.
Twenty-seven plaintiffs accused Whole Foods of selectively enforcing its dress code banning “visible slogans, messages, logos or advertising” unrelated to the company.
The judge ruled in the company’s favor.
“At worst, they were selectively enforcing a dress code to suppress certain speech in the workplace,” U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs wrote. “However unappealing that might be, it is not conduct made unlawful by Title VII.”
