Listen up! This month, there was a big win in federal court for keeping political and controversial messaging out of the workplace.
On November 6, 2025, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated an NLRB ruling that claimed Home Depot broke federal labor law by restricting an employee from displaying “BLM” on his orange apron.
Here’s a quick recap: The store sat just seven miles from where George Floyd was murdered in an area flooded with unrest, protests, and community tension. As per their policy, Home Depot allows some personalization on its aprons, but not political or cause-based messaging. When management asked the employee to remove the lettering and offered alternatives, he refused and filed an unfair labor practice charge under the NLRA. The NLRB originally agreed with him, but the 8th Circuit pushed back.
What the court said and how this can apply to your practice:
1. Employers can restrict political or cause-based messaging when justified by “special circumstances”
The court held that Home Depot’s restriction fell within the NLRA’s “special circumstances” doctrine, which is a narrow but powerful exception allowing employers to limit messaging that conflicts with legitimate business interests.
For medical practices, legitimate interests can be patient comfort, and maintaining a safe and neutral clinical environment.
2. Policies must be neutral, written, and enforced consistently
Home Depot had an established, consistently applied policy that limited political messaging on an employee’s uniform. The court made it clear that the company did not ban BLM messaging outright, rather, they enforced a neutral uniform rule to ensure workplace safety during a uniquely volatile time.
Take a look at your office policy and make sure it is clearly written and bans all political, social, or cause-based messaging. No selective enforcement here! The policy should consistently apply to all staff members including physicians, nurses, assistants and the front desk.
3. Context Matters
The court emphasized that this decision relied heavily on the extreme specificity of the facts: the location, timing, civil unrest surrounding the store, and Home Depot’s documented history of consistently applying its policy.
While similar results are never guaranteed, in the context of your practice, each day brings vulnerable encounters, sensitive patients, and an expectation of safety and neutrality.
You don’t need a protest outside your door to justify a neutral, calm, non-political medical environment. I write on this case to remind you that your policies must be clear, consistently applied, tied to legitimate business needs, and backed by documentation every single time. A policy that exists only on paper, and isn’t enforced uniformly, will backfire on you.
