Teen Says Being Barred From Work For Dreadlocks Is Discrimination

MENOMONEE FALLS, WI — A 19-year-old woman in Menomonee Falls says she was barred from working at a local store because of her dreadlocks.

According to a Fox 6 report, Destini Briggs spent $150 on faux dreadlocks before her shift at Pet World in Menomonee Falls on Nov. 17, however her supervisor would not allow her to clock in because of her hair.

According to reports, police were called to the store to quell the dispute.

When mother Starla Henderson and Briggs talked with the store manager, the manager said that the employee handbook stated that "hair is to be natural color and an appropriate style for a retail setting," according to the Fox 6 report.

"You're telling us how we, meaning African-American people -- because this is more something that is from our culture -- what's appropriate and what's not. This is her freedom to express her black culture," said Henderson in the media report.

Hairstyles Not Constitutionally Protected

The U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit in 2016 in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued CMS, an insurance-processing claims company. In the case, the EEOC claimed that CMS rescinded a job offer to a woman because of her dreadlocks.

The EEOC, on behalf of plaintiff Chastity Jones, cited Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that it's unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire or to discharge any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

According to media reports, the court rejected the EEOC's claims on the basis that Title VII extends to skin color, but not hairstyles that are closely associated with race.

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