Frith et al v. Whole Foods Market, Inc.

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Case overview

Case Number:

1:20-cv-11358

Court:

Massachusetts

Nature of Suit:

Civil Rights: Jobs

Multi Party Litigation:

Class Action

Judge:

Allison D. Burroughs

Firms

Companies

Sectors & Industries:

  1. July 23, 2024

    Whole Foods Settles With Ex-Worker In BLM Mask Dispute

    Whole Foods Market has reached a tentative settlement with a former employee at its Cambridge, Massachusetts, store who says she was fired in 2020 in retaliation for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask, a month before the case was set to go to trial.

  2. January 23, 2023

    Whole Foods' Firings Over BLM Masks Are Legal, Judge Rules

    Workers don't have enough evidence to convince a jury that Whole Foods Market Inc. retaliated against them for wearing Black Lives Matter masks, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Monday, saying the company's business reasons for firing the workers were legal.

  3. May 26, 2022

    Whole Foods Can't See Workers' Protest Talks, NLRB Told

    Whole Foods workers who claim they were unlawfully disciplined for wearing Black Lives Matter apparel on the job argued to a National Labor Relations Board judge to keep their communications organizing the protests secret in response to a company subpoena.

  4. February 28, 2022

    Ex-Whole Foods Workers Try To Keep BLM Mask Case Alive

    Three former Whole Foods Market Inc. employees have told a Massachusetts federal court their retaliation claims should survive the grocery chain's bid to dismiss their suit alleging the company fired them for wearing Black Lives Matter masks, saying there is evidence of pretext in their firings.

  5. January 13, 2022

    Whole Foods Says Workers Can't Link Firings To BLM Masks

    Three former Whole Foods Markets Inc. workers who refused to stop wearing Black Lives Matter face masks can't prove they were fired in retaliation for activity protected by federal anti-discrimination laws, the grocery giant told a Boston federal judge Wednesday.

  6. March 04, 2021

    Whole Foods Workers Appeal Loss In BLM Mask Ban Case

    Whole Foods Markets Inc. workers will ask the First Circuit to review a lower decision tossing nearly all their discrimination claims over the grocer's disciplining of employees who wore Black Lives Matter face masks to work, according to a notice filed this week.

  7. February 05, 2021

    Whole Foods Escapes Nearly All BLM Mask Ban Claims

    Whole Foods workers can't sustain their discrimination claims against the grocery giant and its parent company Amazon.com for disciplining employees who wore Black Lives Matter-emblazoned face masks to work, a Massachusetts federal judge said Friday, explaining that the federal Civil Rights Act doesn't protect a person's right to associate with a social cause.

  8. October 06, 2020

    Amazon Says Race Can't Factor Into Whole Foods BLM Suit

    Amazon.com Inc. has told a Massachusetts federal judge that she cannot consider the race of a Black employee who alleges she was sent home from Amazon-owned Whole Foods for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask, arguing that the employee did not mention her race in her racial bias complaint. 

  9. September 09, 2020

    Amazon Wants Out Of Whole Foods BLM Face Mask Suit

    Amazon.com Inc. asked a Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday to let it out of a suit claiming the online retail behemoth and its grocery unit Whole Foods Market Inc. unlawfully disciplined employees who wear Black Lives Matter face masks.

  10. September 03, 2020

    Whole Foods Quashes Settlement Talk In BLM Mask Case

    A lawyer for Whole Foods Market Inc. vowed Thursday to continue fighting claims that the grocery chain discriminated against employees by banning Black Lives Matter face masks, disagreeing with a Massachusetts federal judge's prediction that it will settle in part to avoid having a "racist label" attached to it during litigation.