4000 award for hurt feelings over headscarf.......do you care what your hairdresser does with her hair or her beliefs?

[zippitippitoes]

..............struck me as an odd story this

here

I am a muslim practising, dont wear headscarf its things like this that will make people racist

The hairdresser was talking about the case on FiveLive yesterday and it seemed to me, reading between the lines, that the woman who ran the salon thought that the claimant wasn't "alternative" enough for the salon, she was talking about tattoos and piercings and the like and how she has an image.

The interview didn't seem like it was very fair, apparently she had dismissed her from the CV as she saw that she lived further away than she would have liked for an employee but the woman called up and begged to have an interview as she needed the job so she gave her one. Then, it seems like in the interview, the salon owner spent 10 minutes telling her why she didn't want her for the job and about 2.5 minutes talking about her qualifications.

Four grand is quite a lot though.

Meant to say, I didn't get the impression from the interview on the radio that she didn't take her on because of her religion, she did keep making these statements about wanting people to see the hair of the hairdresser (which I think is bollocks) rather that she wasn't cool enough for her salon.

But surely if you're running a cool salon you're entitled to want to employ someone who you feel is cool and will fit in?

And if you're running an old fashioned Barber Shop, you would want to employ a balding overweight bloke with braces, as he would fit in best with the uncool image.

Hairdressing is about image therefore the way someone drersses matters.

What I don't get is why 4k, does that suddenly make her feelings not hurt - or would her feelings of only been 75% recovered if she had got 3k?

Interestingly enough Cups, I wouldn't wear contacts while dispensing. Partly because i'm too lazy first thing in the morning, but also partly because I want prospective customers to see me in my specs which look good! It's also a good example for people who are very short sighted because my lenses look lovely and thin and i've chosen a frame specifically to hide my ridiculously high prescription. So if i get someone coming in saying, "Oh i only wear my contacts because i look stupid in glasses as my prescription is so high," then i can show them mine!

I do think that in a job like a hairdressers image is so important for business that if the owner of the salon wanted her staff to fit in with a certain image then she should have been able to not give Miss Noah the job for that reason without "hurting her feelings"!! But that would have nothing to do with the headscarf, from what LLPJ was saying about the radio interview. If someone doesn't fit in with the image if the place then they don't fit in! Similarly, I know that the girl who had my job before me was sacked for not sticking to a dress code of smart business dress and would have bare shoulders - that's not acceptable or professional is it?

I feel so sorry for the poor hairdresser. She isn't rich, it's just a tiny one-woman business, and she's had to spend money on legal advice (she certainly couldn't afford much) and this girl obviously isn't the type of person she wanted in the salon as she isn't an alternative/punky sort of person at all, hair or no hair (and she's a whingy opportunist to boot).
And frankly, I wouldn't want my hair cut by someone who thinks I am immoral for showing it at all. Why would someone who thinks it is against their God's law to show your hair want to be a hairdresser anyway? It's like a Jehovah's Witness wanting to do blood transfusions!

I know of an (excellent) qualified hairdresser who was made to feel very uncomfortable when she dedcided to wear a headscarf and faced similar comments from her boss in a very popular high street hairdressing chain. She left the job. I do feel that it a worse form of discrimination than that shown to girl in this article as often you arent offered jobs for unfair reasons. Many places wont employ you if you wear a headscsrf but most are clever enough not to make such comments as they know legally they can't do that.

I understand why the girl took the case to court she was probably fed up of being told she couldnt do stuff in hijab, and honestly why not? The settlement does seem a bit steep though. Personally i wouldnt have sued but whinged for ages boycotted hairdressers etc. but perhaps this young girls tactics will be more effective.

"Why would someone who thinks it is against their God's law to show your hair want to be a hairdresser anyway? "

The law isnt that you cant ever show your hair, why wouldnt muslim women want beautiful haircuts to show off in front of female friends, relatives or just for self esteem? Surely being able to create the 'artistry' of hairdressing is still a desire to these women.

Well maybe this poor discriminated girl
should start her own, women-only salon aimed at fellow Muslims? Surely that would be more sensible than suing poor women trying to start a business and attempting to absolutely ruin them?

I'm not sure where this fits in, but part of the syllabus for the hairdressing qualification outlines the requirements for personal appearance. When I was training you were told that long hair should be coloured and styled and short hair cut into fashionable styles. It is a bit daft but I suppose the whole industry is about appearance.

jrocks - why should long hair be coloured?

I've heard the hairdresser on LBC a few times. She said at the beginning the girl was very persistent and kept ringing up asking for a job even before a vacancy was advertised. As she hadn't yet met the girl she didn't know about the headscarf but she had refused her on grounds of inexperience. Obviously when the girl saw the junior vacancy she jumped on it and the hairdresser was obliged to call her in even though she had already felt she wouldn't be suitable.

MsDemeanor- there are salons like these run by muslim women but i expect that at 19 this girl might be a bit too young and may not have the money to set up her own business (possibly use of the 4 K i suppose )

but i think that is the wrong attitude to take, if muslim women only took jobs that meant they assosciated with muslim women, surely that encourages segregation and lack of understanding, surely it is better to have at least some experience working in main stream society?

If her religion is so important to her, surely she realises that it will cut her off from some things - eg working in a punky/trendy hairdressers where image is very important.
However, I suspect she was just up for earning some very easy money by crying racism/discrimination and trying to ruin a hardworking woman who was actually making an attempt to start her own business.

I wouldn't expect a personal shopper/stylist to make her own clothes either, but I would expect her to choose her own clothes and display her personal style (or the style of the shop she worked in) in her appearance. This is the same, in my opinion.

littleducks - i don't think that screwing over potential employers is really going to encourage integration tbh...

Does wearing a headscarf mean you can't display personal style? I'd argue you can absolutely embody a modern contemporary trendy salon whilst wearing a headscarf.

I do think suing the business owner was excessive though.

Wearing a headscarf means you can't display a hair style.

Sorry, wearing a giant islamic headress does not say funky, rebellious, modern style to me!
She tried to ruin that poor hairdresser. Reeked of vindictiveness.

If you can't do the job (and in this case the job required showing your hair) then you are not suitable and that's the end of it. If her religion restricts what she can do that's her problem.

This kind of nonsense makes me Allowing spiteful individuals ruin businesses simply because they are not suited to the job.