Three years at this blog without discussing mohawk hairstyles in the workplace. Now, two posts in one week. Which reminds me of the time I dressed up as BA Baracus for Halloween in law school
Ah, yes. That mohawk….and BA’s fear of flying. Ties right into today’s post.
(I love it when a plan comes together)
You see, recently, I read this opinion about a flight attendant who donned a mohawk and claimed sexual-orientation discrimination under NJ state law.
Guh?
Yes, he claimed that the crap he took from his supervisors for his mohawk was because he was gay and, consequently, they had created a hostile work environment for him. And to attempt to prove his case, the plaintiff proffered pictures of other employees with “extreme hairstyles,” whom he claimed received more favorable treatment than he.
This argument did not persuade the Court:
“Plaintiff must ultimately show by a preponderance of the evidence that he suffered discrimination because of his sexual orientation….Indeed, nothing in the record suggests that these employees whose extreme hairstyles Continental allegedly has never questioned are heterosexual…Based on the record before it, this Court cannot conclude that these photographs are probative of any discriminatory animus on the part of Plaintiffs supervisors, as they fail to suggest that Continental applied its grooming policy to Plaintiff in a discriminatory fashion because of his sexual orientation.”
So, go ahead. Tease the heck out of the guy in the mohawk. Fire him if you want. And don’t pity the fool.