Publix grocery store chain bans employees form wearing Black Lives Matter apparel.
What We Know:
- The popular grocery store chain announced that all employees are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel while working.
- An 18-year-old Florida employee, Quinton Desmours, was sent home for wearing a face mask with “BLM” on it.
- Desmours stated his assistant manager told him “the company hasn’t issued a statement and that he doesn’t know if they’re pro or con on the issue and that I am endangering myself and everyone who worked there.”
- The teen decided that being committed to #BlackLivesMatter was more important than his job. “Today Publix sent me, a Publix employee home for having “BLM” written on my mask. The assistant store manager told me he doesn’t know if the company is ‘Pro or Con’. I will no longer be working for Publix. Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything!”
- A Publix spokesperson for the company said the company stands behind its decision. Publix has a policy that prohibits all non-Publix messaging on uniforms, so spokeswoman Maria Brous explained, that Desamours was violating that policy.
- Brous also added “At Publix, we reject racism and believe diversity makes our company — and our community — better. Our focus remains on ensuring a welcoming work and shopping environment for all associates and customers. Our uniform policy does not permit non-Publix messaging on clothing or accessories.”
Publix joins companies like Starbucks that stated employees couldn’t wear Black Lives Matter apparel because it could “amplify divisiveness”. Then, Starbucks retracted its desicion amid social media backlash.
