A Florida teen quit his job at a Publix after he violated company policy and handwrote BLM on his medical face mask, which is required to be worn during work hours. The message was written in magic marker.
Publix said that politics has no business in the workplace and their policy is crystal clear.
Maria Brous, director of communications for Publix, said, “Associates at the company have been allowed to wear medical, surgical, and dust masks as well as cloth face coverings until their uniform face coverings arrived, however, the company does not permit non-Publix messaging in its uniform policy.”
“At Publix, we reject racism and discrimination of any kind,” said Brous.
Most agree with Publix and have called Quinton Desamours’ actions, who is 18, a publicity stunt.
Desamours has worked for Publix for approximately one month. Publix gave him a chance to remove he mask and replace it with a clean one, however, Desamours said he didn’t feel he had any other choice but to quit and walked out.
Publix is voted the best grocery store chain to work for in the state. In fact, Publix has a long history of taking care of their employees for life.
Publix shopper, Ann Leslie, said, “He probably just messed up the best and highest paying job he will ever have over a political message that should be kept out of the workplace. As a customer, I don’t care to see it and agree with Publix.”
Desamours admitted that his intention was to make people feel uncomfortable, but does not feel like he did anything wrong. He said he doesn’t feel like the company policy should apply to him.