Overview
- The Nov. 6 ruling vacated a 2024 NLRB order and held that limiting a BLM message on a required apron could be lawful under the NLRA’s narrow special‑circumstances exception.
- Judges credited Home Depot’s consistently enforced dress code and its interest in a neutral, customer‑facing uniform policy at a Minnesota store near the site of George Floyd’s murder.
- The court accepted safety and reputational concerns tied to local unrest and noted managers offered alternatives such as diversity or “Respect for All” pins.
- The panel left unresolved whether writing “BLM” on the apron and refusing to remove it qualifies as protected concerted activity, directing the Board to address that question on remand.
- Legal analysts describe the decision as fact‑specific and caution that employers must document business reasons, apply rules evenly across viewpoints, and tread carefully when expression relates to workplace issues.