Starbucks Tell Employees They Cannot Wear Black Lives Matter Attire at Work

☕Starbucks Coffee Company is telling its employees that it is against company policy to wear Black Live Matter gear at work.

In an internal memo obtained by BuzzFeed News, the coffee chain told its employees they “may only wear buttons or pins issued to the partners by ☕Starbucks for special recognition or for advertising a ☕Starbucks-sponsored event or promotion.”

The memo continued:

“And one reasonably sized and placed button or pin that identifies a particular labor organization or a partner’s support for that organization, except if it interferes with safety or threatens to harm customer relations or otherwise unreasonably interferes with ☕Starbucks public image Partners are not permitted to wear buttons or pins that advocate a political, religious or personal issue.”

The memo notes that employees had asked if they could wear Black Lives Matter gear at work.

The company’s vice president of Inclusion and Diversity, Zing Shaw, said that Black Lives Matter gear does not fit in the dress code because there are “agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles of the Black Lives Movement — and in certain circumstances, intentionally re-purpose them to amplify divisiveness.”