This is a tricky business isn't it?
A hair salon owner is being sued for religious discrimination after refusing a Muslim teenager a job as a stylist because she wore a headscarf.Sarah Desrosiers said she refused 19-year-old Bushra Noah the position because it was an "absolutely basic" requirement that customers could see their stylist's hair.The 32-year-old, whose "alternative" salon in London specialises in "urban, funky punky" cuts, has already spent £1,000 fighting the case.Miss Noah wants £15,000 for injury to her feelings plus an unspecified amount for lost earnings.She maintains that her headscarf is an integral part of her religious beliefs.Miss Desrosiers, who denies any discrimination, said: "The essence of my line of work is the display of hair."To me, it's absolutely basic that people should be able to see the stylist's hair.
Apparently Miss Noah "is an experienced stylist but has been rejected for 25 jobs"
25??? Gosh. No idea how I'd handle this one.
In my opinion, her choice of a career within the UK beauty industry appears opposed to the requirement for modesty on the grounds of her religious beliefs. ... as she is only 19 it would be interesting to know just how experienced she actually is as a stylist and where she has worked in the past.
I think the Salon owner has a point, if you are employed in the hair industry its not unreasonable to expect your employees to showcase the standard and style of the salon via the staff who work there.
I don't see her easilly finding work at a mainstream salon but there may be opportunities in certain areas of the country where specialist salons are able offer the privacy and service that some Muslim clients and staff clearly require.
I'm really struggling with this one. Lots of hairdressers have their heads shaved and does that impact on their ability to do their jobs? No. But do her religious belief impact on her ability to do her job in other ways - such as not being able to handle male clients? I guess we'll never know.
Either way, I wouldn't mind a £15k pay-off!
incidentaly, I believe the salon is called Wedge .....its not one of mine thank goodness !
Looks like you're in the majority on this one Wedgie. Today's London Metro page has got one person suggesting
"It's like suing a strip club for not letting her be a lap dancer while wearing full purdah!" - which strikes me as a tad dramatic!
And another saying: "It's like walking into a tailor and being served by someone wearing a potato sack!" He adds "The claimant never even had a job so how can she claim loss of earnings"... which is a pretty good point.
A friend, who is a British Airways Captain, had to vacate his hotel in Manchester along with his crew 10 years ago because of the IRA bomb and without their luggage.They had to talk their way through security at Manchester Airport. They got to their BA 747 and flew it to New York wearing jeans and T shirts.When their dress code was explained to the passengers everyone cheered. The unusual clothing didn't effect the job they did and yes, they arrived safely!
I have nothing against the occasional dressing down day but last time I flew with B.A. I noticed cabin crew had not adopted jeans and T shirts as a policy, the circumstances you described are absolutley understandable and the crew were right to recieve praise for their actions in not allowing pressure from a terrorist organisation to disrupt their daily life but if an individual turned up for work without any such excuse dressed like that when the rest of the team were in uniform they would not be allowed to join the crew and would be disciplined.
Reference the outcome, the same hairdresser can cut hair in the nude or dressed in a ballgown and the result will be the same, but it's not only the ability to cut that is important, its a question what image the salon deems acceptable and not an employees role to set the dress code.