A federal appeals court has ruled that banning an employee from wearing their hair in locs is not racial discrimination.
In a 3-0 decision, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a cased brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a company that refused a hire a woman because she wouldn’t cut off her locs.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chastity Jones applied to work at Catastrophe Management Solutions in 2010 and was initially hired, but the role came with one condition. Jones was told that she’d have to cut off her locs in order to comply with the company’s grooming policy. She refused to do so and the job offer was rescinded.