Supporters of employees wanting to wear Black Lives Matter masks during their shifts gathered outside the River St. Whole Foods in Cambridge in June 2020. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A federal trial judge last week dismissed the bulk of a discrimination lawsuit filed by former workers at the Whole Foods Market on Rivers Street in Cambridge.
The suit, brought last summer, alleged the Amazon-owned company illegally barred employees from wearing protective masks that read "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) during their shifts.
The dispute that led to the lawsuit began days after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd sparked protests for racial justice across the country and around Greater Boston. Whole Foods said the BLM masks violated company dress code, and when some employees continued to wear them, management sent them home without pay.