Ex-employee at Fort Worth Whataburger files lawsuit after she lost job over BLM mask
A woman filed a lawsuit against Whataburger on Thursday after she says she was targeted by her white managers because she wore a “Black Lives Matter” mask to work at a Fort Worth restaurant.
Last August, Ma’Kiya Congious said she was forced out of her job at the Texas-based fast food chain for wearing the BLM face mask to work in east Fort Worth.
In the suit filed in Dallas County, Congious, who is Black, said she faced racial discrimination by Whataburger management. She wore the mask multiple times, and her supervisors and district manager did not say anything about her not being allowed to wear the face covering, she said. That changed after a customer complained about the mask on Aug. 4, 2020, the lawsuit says.
A drive-thru customer asked Congious for the customer service phone number to complain about her wearing the BLM mask. Congious told her supervisor and district manager about the complaint that same day, and managers reprimanded her for wearing the mask and ordered her to take it off, the suit says.
“Whataburger’s actions send the message that they don’t think Black Lives Matter,” Congious said in a statement. “‘Black Lives Matter’ is just a statement of fact after years and years of blacks being treated like they didn’t matter in this country. It’s sad that this corporation is threatened by that simple statement. Would you feel safe working at a place that had the attitude that your life didn’t matter?”
Congious filed a discrimination complaint against Whataburger in September 2020 with the Texas Workforce Commission-Civil Rights Division. The agency issued a Right to Sue Letter to Congious, who is represented by Fort Worth attorney Jason C.N. Smith.
In a statement, Smith said it is against the law for Whataburger to discriminate against employees because of their race and color in the terms and conditions of employment.
“Whataburger singled out a Black employee for wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ mask while allowing other non-Black employees to wear all sorts of masks that had nothing to do with burgers and fries,” he said. “Other employees throughout the company were allowed to wear the mask of their choosing such as a Mexican flag mask. I mean, they called the police on a 19-year-old mom in response to her request for an explanation.”
Congious told the Star-Telegram in a previous interview that she asked the managers about the procedure for putting in her two weeks’ notice, and a manager responded by telling her, “You want to put your two weeks notice in? We accept it and you don’t have to come back at all.”
Congious said in the suit she had not made up her mind about putting in her two weeks’ notice and was only asking about her options. After she pressed managers about what their response meant, they called the police, according to the suit.
When police arrived, Congious told them she only wanted the corporate number for Whataburger so she could file a complaint. She then left the restaurant without incident, she said.
The lawsuit says Congious was discriminated against specifically because she was wearing a Black Lives Matter mask. Other employees wore masks depicting the Mexican flag, a Gucci logo and a UFC emblem without issue.
The company’s mask policy, which was previously shared with the Star-Telegram, makes no mention of political statements. A section regarding personal face-covering procedures reads, “plain or work-appropriate patterned bandanas or other cloth material may be used to cover your nose and mouth.”
‘We’re just hamburgers and fries’
Congious audio recorded her interaction with a manager as she told her to take off the mask.
“Whataburger wants you to wear a mask that has no opinions whatsoever on them,” the manager says in the voice recording. “You’re entitled to your personal opinions, that’s fine. But at Whataburger we don’t want to portray them because some people may be offended. I mean, this is a big business. ... Whataburger doesn’t want to get into anything political because we’re just hamburgers and fries.”
The manager said employees should wear masks that do not have anything on them; no writing, no symbols, nothing.
“We’re human beings, it doesn’t matter what color we are,” the manager says in the voice recording.
“If it doesn’t matter what color we are, then why does it matter about the mask,” Congious asks.
At a press conference in September 2020, Congious said the situation made her feel discriminated against and she wants her story to create change for Black people in the workforce. For her, Black Lives Matter is not a political statement.
“I do have a 5-month-old baby and as he comes up in the world, I don’t want him to experience anything like this at all,” Congious said.
In a statement previously given to the Star-Telegram, a Whataburger spokesperson said the restaurant accepted Congious’ resignation and she would be paid for two weeks she was scheduled to work. The police were called, the spokesperson said, because “the employee began to make threats to our restaurant management.”
“Whataburger supports racial equality,” the statement read. “This is simply a matter of enforcing our uniform policy. Whataburger employees are provided company-issued masks that comply with our policy and adhere to CDC and local government guidance.”
