Hair today, gone tomorrow

[Botnst]

ACLU Probes Six Flags Hairstyle Ban

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating complaints from more than a dozen black employees at a Six Flags theme park who were told their hairstyles were inappropriate.

Jonathan DeLeon, 17, was hired at Six Flags America in Largo, Md., in March to wear the costumes of Sylvester and Daffy Duck. A few weeks later, he said he was told to cut his braids, which were at least 3 feet long.

Though his mother cut more than 2 feet of his hair, park officials were dissatisfied, he said.

"They told me I had to cut them even shorter or go home," DeLeon told The Washington Post. "They said they wanted an all-American thing. That's what they said to all the black people. I had already cut it a lot, so I just left."

The 2006 Six Flags America handbook states that employees are not allowed to have "any hairstyle that detracts or takes away from Six Flags theming."

Terry Prather, the park's general manager, said that the policy is not discriminatory and that exceptions are made for employees with religious and medical reasons for not cutting their hair.

Some employees said they tried to adjust by buying wigs to cover their hair or by paying to have their hair braided into cornrows, but they too were told that the hairstyles were inappropriate.

[yoseyman]

when you work for someone you do what they say or quit. simple.
yes I know sexual harassment is another issue.

[junkman]

Years ago my dad and I went to the shoe repair stor so he could get his shoes re-soled. the hippy working at the store had his hai in a ponytail. I being a smart-assed kid asked him why he had a pony tail like a girl. He told us the story of his hair being cought in a machine and almost killing him. Rules are for safety. If Mr. Dreadlocks can't figure out that the three footers might get caught in something and take his head off he's too stupid to have a job anyway. Think of the lawsuit if he was decapitated by equipment in the park entangling his hair. The ACLU is a waste of human space when they take cases such as this.

[Botnst]

Hmmm. I'm trying to imagine cornrows getting stuck in machinery.

[felkhound]

No different than Disney not allowing facial hair. I find it hard to believe that a person would be hired, let alone allowed to start work until they met the grooming standards required by the company.

On my food service contracts, any male employee that has a beard is told at hiring that he will be required to wear the proper hair and face nets or shave off the beard. Failure to comply will result in termination. If they are too stupid or lazy to follow simple rules, it's not my fault.