April 25, 2024
Whole Foods hasn't yet proven that its firing of a worker who wore a Black Lives Matter mask to work wasn't retaliatory, the First Circuit said in an opinion unsealed Wednesday, ruling that there is a "genuine dispute" as to whether she was terminated for protected conduct.
April 15, 2024
The First Circuit reinstated a lawsuit accusing Whole Foods of unlawfully disciplining and then firing an employee who wore a Black Lives Matter mask at work, overturning the Amazon-owned supermarket chain's pretrial win.
December 05, 2023
The First Circuit on Tuesday appeared willing to consider at least partially reversing Whole Foods' pretrial win on retaliation claims brought by three former employees who say the grocery chain disciplined and later fired them for wearing Black Lives Matter masks at work.
December 01, 2023
In the final month of 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case over whether lateral job transfers can qualify as unlawful discrimination, and the First Circuit will consider reviving a suit by Whole Foods workers who say they were illegally fired for wearing Black Lives Matter apparel. Here's a look at oral argument sessions that discrimination lawyers should keep an eye on in December.
August 28, 2023
A group of former Whole Foods employees who were allegedly fired for wearing Black Lives Matter apparel during protests of racial injustice in 2020 asked the First Circuit on Monday to reverse a district court's summary judgment for the food chain and undo its order for one of the workers to produce text messages in which she discussed organizing the protests.
July 13, 2023
The National Labor Relations Board has asked the First Circuit to prioritize employees' privacy in discovery requests, saying in an amicus brief that a federal judge shouldn't have ordered Whole Foods workers to turn over group text messages discussing the chain's policy on wearing Black Lives Matter masks.