In June, Denzel Skinner posted a live video on Facebook about getting fired from a Taco Bell franchize location in Youngstown, Ohio, for refusing to take off a Black Lives Matter mask. Skinner said he worked for the restaurant for eight years. "This is crazy - all because I got a Black Lives Mattermask on - that I'm losing my job," Skinner said in the video. "We can wear any type of masks."

In the video, anunidentified woman, possibly a manager, told Skinnerthe masks had to be plain and "You can't bring politics into the building." Skinner responded that it wasn't politics. "I'm not bringing politics in, this is what I'm standing for," Skinner said. "Like how is this considered politics?"

Taco Bell said recently that it does not prohibit its employees from wearing Black Lives Matter masks and was working closely with the Ohio franchise after the former employee said he was fired for wearing a mask supporting the movement. "We believe Black Lives Matter. We were disappointed to learn about the incident that took place in Youngstown, OH," Taco Bell said in a statement. "We take this very seriously; we have been working closely with our franchisee that operates this location to address the issue."

The fast-food chain said in its statement that the company's chief people office and parent company Yum!'s chief diversity and inclusion officer spoke with Skinner last week to "apologize and discuss the situation." "Our goal is to ensure our policies are inclusive and keep our team members and customers safe,"Taco Bell's statement said. "While our policies at restaurants do not prohibit Team Members from wearing Black Lives Matter masks, we are working to clarify our mask policy, so this doesn't happen again."

Another company, Starbucks said it was allowing its baristas and other employees to wear Black Lives MatterT-shirts and pinsLinks to an external site., reversing its policy on the matter.

Q1. Suppose that Taco Bell decided to respond differently to the issue. For example, what if an employer is reluctant to alienate customers or employees? Or, hope that banning personal statements across the board will keep conflict at bay.? i.e., suppose the company decided to prohibit employees from wearing "Black Lives Matter" masks. Would that have been a violation of law? Why or why not? Clearly if a company were to prohibit "Black Lives Matter" masks but allow employees to wear "White Lives Matter" or LGBTQ masks, such an act could possibly constitute either disparate treatment or disparate impact discrimination, but that is not the facts here.

Q2. What if the employer's dress code stated that employees could wear only masks that were plain with no words or pictures ? Would that be a violationof law? Recently a Chicago-area employee was given permission to wear a mask depicting a raised fist as long as it doesn't include words. If an employer supplied masks with the company logo and required employees to wear them at work, could an employee be disciplined for wearing a non-complying mask?

As usual, please make one post and then respond to 2 others. I know this is a long question. I'm not looking for a lengthy answer, but a thoughtful one.