This is absolutely unbelievable. Via TheGrio.com;
“Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that banning employees from wearing their hair in dreadlocks is not a form of racial discrimination.
The lawsuit was brought to the court of appeals by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which charged that an Alabama insurance claims processing company had discriminated against Chastity Jones in 2010 when she applied to work for them. They offered her employment with the caveat that she needed to get rid of her dreadlocks because of their grooming standards, stating that dreadlocks “tend to get messy.” When Jones refused to change her hair, the company withdrew its offer of employment.
According to the EEOC, “prohibition of dreadlocks in the workplace constitutes race discrimination because dreadlocks are a manner of wearing the hair that is physiologically and culturally associated with people of African descent.”
“Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that banning employees from wearing their hair in dreadlocks is not a form of racial discrimination.
The lawsuit was brought to the court of appeals by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which charged that an Alabama insurance claims processing company had discriminated against Chastity Jones in 2010 when she applied to work for them. They offered her employment with the caveat that she needed to get rid of her dreadlocks because of their grooming standards, stating that dreadlocks “tend to get messy.” When Jones refused to change her hair, the company withdrew its offer of employment.
According to the EEOC, “prohibition of dreadlocks in the workplace constitutes race discrimination because dreadlocks are a manner of wearing the hair that is physiologically and culturally associated with people of African descent.”
This is another painful reminder that anti-blackness is embedded in American life. While employers view locs as dirty, messy or unprofessional, many African Americans acknowledge it as a style that grooms and nurtures textured hair.
We have ample examples of black women rocking locs in a professional setting, looking beautiful, confident and competent.
Camille Reed of Noire Salon
Dr Avis Jones Deweever, Top Diversity Consultant
Carolyn Edgar, Vice President and Legal Counsel at Estee Lauder
But in this instance, a non-black interpretation of locs becomes the law of the land.