Labor board: Home Depot violated labor laws when firing employee with 'Black lives matter' on apron

The nation’s labor board ruled on Wednesday that Home Depot violated federal labor laws when it discharged an employee for refusing to remove the hand-drawn “BLM”_ the acronym for “Black Lives Matter” _ from his work apron. The National Labor Relations Act said it protects the legal right of employees to engage in “concerted activities” for the purpose of “mutual aid or protection” — whether or not they are represented by a union. In its ruling, the board reasoned the employee’s refusal to remove the BLM marking was “concerted” because it was a “logical outgrowth” of prior concerted employee protests about racial discrimination in their workplace. The right to wear BLM insignia at the workplace had been a big issue in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in May 2020.