Amazon-owned upscale grocery chain Whole Foods has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleged it wrongfully fired an employee who refused to remove a Black Lives Matter mask and complained about racism at the chain.
Whole Foods’ lawyers said: Filing The company reached an agreement in principle Monday in federal court in Boston to settle a lawsuit with Savannah Kinzer, an outspoken critic who worked at the store in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Her claim was the last remaining in what began as a class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 by Whole Foods employees over a dress code that banned them from wearing clothing related to the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement. A trial had been scheduled for August 19.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Lawyers for the company and Kinser did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit stems from nationwide protests calling for racial justice that erupted in May 2020 after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.
As protests continued, Whole Foods began disciplining employees who wore masks in support of Black Lives Matter during the pandemic.
Whole Foods cited its dress code, which the company argued is meant to promote a welcoming, safe and inclusive shopping environment. Kinser and other employees fought back, saying the company’s dress code has never been enforced.
Kinzer said she was fired for protesting outside the store, refusing requests to stop wearing a mask and speaking to reporters. She also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Kinser and other employees filed a lawsuit on behalf of Whole Foods employees in July 2020, shortly after they were fired, alleging that the mask ban was racially discriminatory.
Courts dismissed those discrimination lawsuits, but the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April reinstated Kinser’s individual claim that his firing constituted unlawful retaliation and said a jury should resolve the dispute.
