SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WXYZ) — An employee at a Meijer in West Michigan was reportedly told she couldn't wear a face mask with the letters "BLM" on it, in reference to the Black Lives Matter movement.
WWMT reports that Tamika Sullivan was called into her boss' office on June 19 after just an hour of work. She told the news station that there was apparently a customer who complained about the mask.
According to Sullivan, she could either take the mask off or wear it inside out. According to WWMT, Sullivan said she had been wearing the mask all week without any issues.
An employee at the South Haven Meijer said she was hurt after being told she couldn’t wear a face mask with the letters “BLM” on it. The letters are in reference to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I started crying and I broke down because I really felt like my rights were getting taken away from me,” she told WWMT. “They told me that it can’t be political, but it’s not actually political. It’s three letters. And because of one customer complaint?”
According to the station, Sullivan went home rather than take the mask off
Frank Guglielmi, senior director for Meijer’s corporate communications, released the following statement on the incident to WWMT:
“Meijer has specific guidelines for team member uniforms, which include face coverings. We provide all our team members with face masks and if they choose to use their own mask, they need to adhere to our guidelines for neutrality.”
