Judge Dismisses Case Of Former Home Depot Employee Who Alleged The Company Wrongfully Banned Wearing BLM Slogans
A National Labor Relations Board judge has dismissed a case filed by a former Home Depot employee who said the company banned workers from wearing the Black Lives Matter slogan on their aprons.
According to Bloomberg, the employee was in a Minnesota location and filed the complaint in March 2021, after allegedly being suspended for weaning the phrase on her uniform. She would eventually resign. By August of 2021, National Labor Relations Board lawyers joined the case and argued BLM should not be under Home Depot's uniform policy, which bans political or religious messages "unrelated to workplace matters.”
Administrative law judge Paul Bogas dismissed the case on June 10, writing in part the message “originated, and is primarily used, to address the unjustified killings of Black individuals by law enforcement and vigilantes.“
He continued, “To the extent the message is being used for reasons beyond that, it operates as a political umbrella for societal concerns and relates to the workplace only in the sense that workplaces are part of society.”
NLRB and Home Depot have not released a statement after the ruling. However, Home Depot has previously said the NLRB agency misrepresented “the relevant facts” and that it is “fully committed to diversity and respect for all people.”
