You may have noticed a headline or two about approval in the House of Representatives for the “CROWN Act,” on March 18. Although this measure is fully endorsed by the President, prognosticators are betting it will fail in the U.S. Senate – for the expressed reason, not that hairstyle discrimination should not be enforced, but because it is arguably already covered by existing law. Regardless, employers can use this as an opportunity to review existing practices and policies to obviate any such claims in the future, regardless of the outcome of this law.

The “CROWN” reference in this Bill is to “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022,” the stated goal of which is to prohibit discrimination based on an individual's texture or style of hair. And if enacted, it would “be an unlawful employment practice for an employer . . . to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual, based on the individual's hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).”

It is prompted by anecdotal evidence of situations in which African Americans have been denied a position or discharged as a result of adopting a hairstyle (e.g., dreadlocks) which an employer found not in keeping with a workplace...

Read Full Story: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/health-safety/1231160/house-approval-for-...