The Amazon-Owned Grocer May Continue Enforcing Its Dress Code Against Employees Wearing Black Lives Matter Clothing and Accessories
Whole Foods may prohibit employees from wearing Black Lives Matter clothing and accessories under a new ruling from the National Labor Relations Board.
The federal labor board sided with the Amazon-owned grocery chain in a dispute involving employees who wore shirts, face masks, pins and other items displaying “Black Lives Matter” or “BLM” messages in 2020.
Workers across several states were disciplined, sent home or fired after refusing to remove the apparel. An NLRB regional office later accused Whole Foods of violating federal labor law at locations across 10 states.
Board Finds BLM Apparel Was Not Tied to Workplace Conditions
In its July 31 decision, the Republican-led board determined that the employees’ actions were not directly connected to conditions at Whole Foods.
Because the workers were expressing support for a broader social movement rather than protesting their own working conditions, the board found that their conduct was not protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.
That distinction allows Whole Foods to enforce its workplace dress code and discipline employees who refuse to comply.
The National Labor Relations Act generally protects workers who act together to address wages, safety, discrimination and other workplace concerns. However, the board found that the Whole Foods employees did not establish a sufficient connection between their BLM apparel and workplace-specific complaints.
Whole Foods Dress Code Also Upheld
The board also ruled 2-1 that a former Whole Foods dress code was not unlawfully broad.
Whole Foods adopted the policy in 2013 after resolving an earlier labor case and revised the wording in 2020. An administrative law judge previously found the revised policy unlawful because it did not precisely match the language included in the earlier settlement.
The original language prohibited workers from wearing company shirts or tops with visible slogans, messages, logos or advertising “printed” on them. Whole Foods later removed the word “printed.”
NLRB member David Prouty, the board’s lone Democrat, dissented from that portion of the decision. Prouty argued that removing the word expanded the policy beyond the terms of the settlement by allowing Whole Foods to prohibit pins, buttons and other accessories.
Ruling Differs From Earlier Home Depot Decision
The NLRB distinguished the Whole Foods dispute from a 2024 case involving Home Depot employees who displayed BLM messages on their orange work aprons.
In the Home Depot case, workers connected the messages to complaints about racial harassment from coworkers and customers. The labor board initially found that connection sufficient to make the workers’ actions protected under federal law.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in November 2025. The appeals court found that Home Depot had legitimate business reasons for enforcing its uniform policy, including maintaining its public image and protecting employees and customers.
The Whole Foods decision leaves the grocer free to enforce the dress code involved in the case.
Other workplace apparel disputes remain under review, including allegations that two Kroger subsidiaries unlawfully prohibited employees from wearing Black Lives Matter messages.
