Is naturally curly hair a protected characteristic? 09-09-2009

I have naturally curly hair that I normally straighten. Recently I wore my hair natural one day (which I normally get compliments on). My employer told me not to wear my hair like that again because he doesn't like it. Is this not some sort of harassment? We don't have an HR department, it's a small family owned company. I'm not sure what to do, because things like this happen often.

Ann Kiernan replies:

As you can see from the first ATL this month, illegal harassment has 4 essential factors. If the boss doesn't like curly hair, he may just not have good taste, but not having good taste is not illegal.

However, if you are African-American, maybe there is something illegal going on. According to the EEOC, employers can impose neutral hairstyle rules - for instance, that hair be neat, clean, and well-groomed - as long as the rules respect racial differences in hair textures and are applied evenhandedly. Federal law prohibits employers from preventing African-American women from wearing their hair in a natural, unpermed "afro" style that complies with the neutral hairstyle rule, and also prohibits employers from applying neutral hairstyle rules more restrictively to hairstyles worn by African-Americans.

P.S. I have naturally curly hair, too!

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