Waitress fired for shaving her head

[Ree]

Was going to post this at CS, but figured discussion would get into areas of law and gender biases, and felt it was probably better suited for discussion here.

She had an uncle dying of cancer, and she shaved her head for support.
She wore wigs and head scarves, but she was fired anyway for having an unacceptable appearance.
She appealed to the Human Rights Commission for her province, but they upheld the dismissal on the grounds that she had deliberately altered her appearance in an unacceptable way. (If she had really been bald because of a health issue, she would have had a case, apparently.)

The article asks a few interesting questions.

If a man shaved his head, would he be fired?
Why is it not acceptable for a woman to shave her head?

Just what is considered an "unacceptable appearance"?

[MaggieTheCat]

This whole thing is disgusting. One of my best friends is a high school teacher, and she has shaved her head several times for cancer benefits; she would challenge her classes to raise a certain amount of money (usually a pretty considerable amount, like $10,000) in a certain amount of time, and if they could do it, she would shave her head. Each time she did it, she increased the goal and never thought her classes would be able to reach it and each time they did. The school was behind her 100% and she didn't wear wigs or scarves to work.

I really find it disgusting that the Human Rights Commission actually backed the restaurant's decision to fire her. Then again, one of the commenters in the article pointed out that the restaurant owners/managers maybe just didn't like her or didn't think she was working out and were just looking for an excuse to get rid of her.

[Greenday]

Yea, I've got no argument for the business owner on this one. Huge dick move.

Good point about men being able to shave their heads. Sounds like an equal opportunity case in the making.

[lordlundar]

Hmm, I can understand the HRC upholding the decision given the argument. They could only rule in her favor if it was something that she couldn't help. In this case, it was her choice, so there was no way they could rule in her favor.

That said, there could be several Labour law violations that could be applied here, so going to the Labour board would have been a much better choice. She just chose the wrong group to go to, that's all. (heck, if there's no listing in the dress code that says heads must be unshaved or some such nonsense, then that alone is good enough)

[Rageaholic]

Yeah, there does seem to be a double standard with regards to hair. Women are expected to have longer hair than men. Also, is it just me or is it more culturally acceptable for men to have long hair than women to have short hair? IDK, but it's something to think about.

I think the restaurant shoved it's real dickery when they fired her even though she was wearing a wig. If she didn't wear a wig, I'd consider this typical of management and typical of society (judging people based on apperance). However, since she did make sure to wear a wig to work, than management crossed the line into dictating personal choices outside of work. She was still making sure to follow the dress code and they still fire her. That's... not cool.

Also, what if she really did have cancer and needed to have kemo (sp?). Would they have fired her then? There's a lot to think about here.

[guywithashovel]

Unless she wore some really funky wigs, this shouldn't have been a problem. Heck, unless you get a really cheap wig, it shouldn't have even been that noticeable that she'd done anything like this.

[Eisa]

What? Who the fuck cares if she shaves her head? Personally, I think a lot of women look GOOD with shaved heads.

And if she was wearing wigs and head scarves...you couldn't "see" anyway, and...

My brain hurts from the stupidity.

And I bet it is a double-standard. I bet if a man who worked there shaved his head, he would be fine. No wigs or head scarves required.

[Andara Bledin]

Here's another article with a photo of the waitress.

She has a very nicely shaped head; she looks good without hair, which is more than I can say for about 80% of all the guys I've seen who shave their heads.

If the wigs and scarves were well-done, then the restaurant-owner deserves the vilification he will be receiving.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

Of course she has the right to be bald if she chooses. In fact, it's sad that she felt that she had to put on wigs and scarves for work. Many female cancer patients go through all of this crap of finding wigs and painting on eyebrows and fake lashes....just what you need when you're feeling like death on toast. When Mom went through chemo, she tried wigs before finally saying, "You know, I'm sick, I'm bald, and I don't care what anybody thinks about it."

[Ree]

One would think they would be glad that she isn't getting hair in the food.

I see nothing wrong if a woman wants to shave her head.

It's ridiculous.

Have I missed it, or have they published the name of the restaurant?

*EDIt - Never mind, it was in the link that Andara provided.

[bhskittykatt]

I see no reason why she shouldn't have been allowed to shave her head. Even if the restaurant owner really hated it, she was covering it up! If they have a dress code that calls for a certain hair length, the wig should have met that requirement.

Unfortunately, there can be such double-standards in the workplace. I know at my work, men are required to be "neatly groomed", but the dress code actually calls for women to wear make-up and have manicured hands. I personally don't wear a lot of make-up (it makes my face break-out like there's no tomorrow), but fortunately that aspect of the dress code is not really enforced, if it ever is.

[ExRetailDrone]

What a ridiculous reason to fire someone. Unless it was stated in the dress code that every new employee was given and/or told about upon being hired, then this seems like incredibly slimy labor practices. Who cares of she shaved her head, especially since she went to the trouble of keeping it covered while she was on the clock. Not that I think she should have had to do that unless there was a specific dress code in place, mind you. And if there were such a dress code, I wouldn't be supportive of it, but that's a whole other topic

[MadMike]

Why is it not acceptable for a woman to shave her head?

I guess the same reason a lot of places have a problem with guys having long hair. Whatever that reason is, I'm not sure, other than control-freak managers.

And the fact that she was nice enough to cover it up with a wig, and they still fired her, makes the whole thing a "dick move" as one of the other members stated. They deserve any kind of backlash they get over this one.

[Ree]

I guess the same reason a lot of places have a problem with guys having long hair.

But that's the thing, Mike.
It's a huge double standard.
If a guy decided to grow his hair really long and then wore it in a ponytail or something, would they have fired him?

Maybe some places would. I don't know.
I would like to know what this place would do in that situation.

[MadMike]

But that's the thing, Mike.
It's a huge double standard.

Oh, I agree 100%. I'm a guy with long hair myself, after all. And there used to be a manager at my job that didn't like it. But he's gone and I'm still there.

I think that these control-freak managers need to worry more about how people do their job, and less about their employees' personal preferences.