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Hair Color Deemed Improper for An African-American Woman

Posted by Peter K. Levine | Oct 27, 2013 | 0 Comments

Hair Color Deemed Improper for An African-American Woman

Farryn Johnson, an African-American 25-year-old Hooters waitress, alleges she was let go because of her blonde highlights, even thought white waitresses are allowed to color their hair at the chain restaurant.

In the racial discrimination complaint filed with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, Johnson is claiming she was let go from her job on grounds of having an “improper image” after she refused to remove the blonde highlights from her dark brown hair.

“They gave me write-ups, and they told me I need to take the color out of my hair. And they said I couldn't have blond in my hair because I'm black. They specifically said, ‘Black women don't have blond in their hair, so you need to take it out,'” Johnson said.

In her complaint she wrote, “Because Hooters permits non-African-American women with their hair dyed colors vastly different from their natural hair colors to work as Hooters Girls, I believe Hooters only deemed my hair color ‘improper' because I am an African-American woman. I was discharged because Hooters imposes different and more restrictive beauty standards on African-American women than it does on women of other races.”

…employers can't have two separate unequal sets of rules

Her attorney, Jessica Weber, had this to say; “The law is clear that employers can't have two separate unequal sets of rules-one for African-Americans employees and one for everybody else, and yet that's exactly what Hooters did here in firing Miss Johnson, an African-American employee solely because she's African-American. They targeted her because of her hair solely because of her race.”

Hooters' chief human resources officer, Rebecca Sinclair said in a statement, “When you're representing an iconic brand, there are standards to follow.

Hooters Girls are required to be camera-ready at all times to promote the glamorous, wholesome look for which Hooters is known.” She went on to say, “Hooters adamantly denies that it has different policies and standards for hair based on race. As a global brand, Hooters embraces our culturally diverse employee base and our standards are applied impartially.”

Peter K. Levine

A Professional Law Corporation

http://www.employmentforall.org/

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Peter K. Levine

  Our firm handles legal matters in the following practice areas: Complex Civil Litigation; Medical Malpractice; Wrongful Death; Personal Injury; Premises Liability; Business Litigation; Employment Law; Discrimination Law; Sexual Harassment Law; Wrongful Termination and Employment Law; Civil Rig...

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