Ex-employee, out of job after wearing BLM mask, files complaint against Whataburger
Ma’Kiya Congious announced Wednesday that she has filed a discrimination complaint against Whataburger more than a month after she said she was forced out of her job for wearing a Black Lives Matter face mask to work.
The complaint was filed with the State of Texas. In it, Congious, a 19-year-old Black woman who worked at a Whataburger restaurant in Fort Worth, asks for five steps of action:
The public should boycott Whataburger for 90 days to see what actions the company takes to show that “Black Lives Matter.”
The company should allow Black Lives Matter masks.
The CEO should say “Black Lives Matter to Whataburger” on social media.
The company should provide more implicit bias training.
The company should celebrate Juneteenth starting next year.
Congious’ attorney Jason Smith said the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division has 180 days to investigate the case, while Whataburger has 30 days to respond to the complaint. If the state doesn’t make a finding, Congious can get a right to sue letter.
The company did not immediately respond to an interview request regarding the complaint.
Smith said they might not need to file a lawsuit if Whataburger apologizes and recognizes it can do better.
“It’s not a political thing,” Congious said, referring to her mask. “It’s just a statement that says ‘Black Lives Matter’ because we do matter.”
Congious’ complaint comes after a white woman didn’t like her Black Lives Matter mask on Aug. 4, when she was working at a Whataburger in east Fort Worth. Congious had worn the same mask before and had received no complaints from other customers or management, she said.
The restaurant manager as well as a higher-ranking manager and another higher-ranking district manager were present that day, she said. Congious said the district manager had greeted her in the parking lot when he arrived and expressed no problems regarding the mask.
But, after the woman told Congious she planned to call corporate to complain, the managers told her she couldn’t wear the mask and deemed it inappropriate.
“Whataburger wants you to wear a mask that has no opinions whatsoever on them,” the manager said in a video recording taken by Congious. “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. This is a big business. ... Whataburger doesn’t want to get into anything political because we’re just hamburgers and fries.”
Congious then asked the managers how she could request two weeks’ notice, to which a manager responded, “You want to put your two weeks notice in? We accept it and you don’t have to come back at all.”
In the complaint, Congious said she hadn’t made up her mind about putting in her two weeks’ notice and was only asking abut her options. Confused by the manager’s response, Congious kept pressing about what it meant, after which her managers called the police on her, she said. Congious then left the Whataburger.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the ex-employee 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 a statement and there’s no political affiliation.
“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.
The company’s mask policy, which was 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.”
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.”
Smith, Congious’ lawyer, said “Federal and state law make it illegal to discriminate against an employee in the terms and conditions of their employment because of their race and color. We believe that’s what the evidence will show Whataburger did when they mistreated Ma’Kiya for wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ mask.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
