black women's hair is illegal, of course.
i had to dig out this article for a, um, discussion on another lj but i figured i would repost it here. this happened about 4 years ago in Savannah.
Twist' hairstyle tangles with grooming policy
Court employee sent home and told to redo hair; boss says, 'We have a certain image to project ....'
By Paula Reed Ward
Savannah Morning News
A Chatham County court employee has been ordered off the job because of her hairstyle.
Inger Bostick, a 13-year employee in the Clerk of Superior Court's office received notice Monday that she was in violation of a personal-grooming policy implemented that day.
Bostick was handed a memo and sent on her way.
"The Employee Personal Grooming Committee has found that you have violated the Personal Grooming Policy in regards to the wearing of twists," the memo reads. "You are being sent home to make the necessary changes in your hairstyle in order to meet the established grooming policy."
The deputy court clerk said she's been wearing the same hairstyle for six months. It's the same one that got her suspended two months ago before there was even a grooming policy.
"All of a sudden, it was no longer professional," Bostick said.
In May, Bostick said she was sent home for a week and told to return once she changed her hairstyle. She didn't change it but was allowed back to work.
Meanwhile, a committee in the clerk's office was writing the new grooming policy.
Clerk of Superior Court Susan Prouse said Bostick has not been suspended. Her time away this week is coming out of vacation time; thus she is being paid.
But Bostick said it doesn't feel like a vacation, and she wants to return to work. She said she will not change her hair, which she has twisted every week to week-and-a-half.
"I like it this way," Bostick said. "I've always worn a natural hairstyle. I'm not into the chemicals."
The style -- which shampoos out -- takes from 90 minutes to three hours to complete.
In hopes of winning her fight over her hairstyle, Bostick has turned to the "We the People Coalition," which held a news conference on her behalf outside the courthouse Thursday.
"This is America," said attorney Joyce Griggs. "We have freedom of expression."
The new policy is based on one at the Chatham County Police Department, Prouse said.
"We've always had a dress code," she said.
But besides prohibiting twists and dreadlocks, the grooming policy requires female employees to wear pantyhose, and male employees to have their facial hair and sideburns neatly trimmed.
"Two men in the office had to have their mustaches and hair trimmed, and 10 to 15 women have been forced to start wearing pantyhose," Prouse said.
"Since we are a division of the courts, ... we have a certain image to project, and it needs to be professional," Prouse said. "This was a grooming policy that affected everyone in the office."
Some critics said the new requirements are especially restrictive concerning black hairstyles, but Prouse said it is intended to apply to all the office's 36 employees.
"They had not gotten any complaints from the judges or attorneys that I deal with," Bostick said.
County Commissioner Harris Odell, an attorney, said he didn't see anything unprofessional about Bostick's hair.
"I saw her hair and thought it looked very attractive."
Odell said he understands the need for professional standards in a court setting, but has problems with regulating hairstyles.
"If a person in my office wanted to wear the hairstyle she was wearing, it would be perfectly acceptable to me," Odell said. "I don't think my white or black clients would be offended."
The county human resources department, which approved the policy, is aware of Bostick's complaint.
Bostick said nothing about her hair has affected her ability to work.
"This has nothing to do about performance," she said. "It's all about appearance."
Twist' hairstyle tangles with grooming policy
Court employee sent home and told to redo hair; boss says, 'We have a certain image to project ....'
By Paula Reed Ward
Savannah Morning News
A Chatham County court employee has been ordered off the job because of her hairstyle.
Inger Bostick, a 13-year employee in the Clerk of Superior Court's office received notice Monday that she was in violation of a personal-grooming policy implemented that day.
Bostick was handed a memo and sent on her way.
"The Employee Personal Grooming Committee has found that you have violated the Personal Grooming Policy in regards to the wearing of twists," the memo reads. "You are being sent home to make the necessary changes in your hairstyle in order to meet the established grooming policy."
The deputy court clerk said she's been wearing the same hairstyle for six months. It's the same one that got her suspended two months ago before there was even a grooming policy.
"All of a sudden, it was no longer professional," Bostick said.
In May, Bostick said she was sent home for a week and told to return once she changed her hairstyle. She didn't change it but was allowed back to work.
Meanwhile, a committee in the clerk's office was writing the new grooming policy.
Clerk of Superior Court Susan Prouse said Bostick has not been suspended. Her time away this week is coming out of vacation time; thus she is being paid.
But Bostick said it doesn't feel like a vacation, and she wants to return to work. She said she will not change her hair, which she has twisted every week to week-and-a-half.
"I like it this way," Bostick said. "I've always worn a natural hairstyle. I'm not into the chemicals."
The style -- which shampoos out -- takes from 90 minutes to three hours to complete.
In hopes of winning her fight over her hairstyle, Bostick has turned to the "We the People Coalition," which held a news conference on her behalf outside the courthouse Thursday.
"This is America," said attorney Joyce Griggs. "We have freedom of expression."
The new policy is based on one at the Chatham County Police Department, Prouse said.
"We've always had a dress code," she said.
But besides prohibiting twists and dreadlocks, the grooming policy requires female employees to wear pantyhose, and male employees to have their facial hair and sideburns neatly trimmed.
"Two men in the office had to have their mustaches and hair trimmed, and 10 to 15 women have been forced to start wearing pantyhose," Prouse said.
"Since we are a division of the courts, ... we have a certain image to project, and it needs to be professional," Prouse said. "This was a grooming policy that affected everyone in the office."
Some critics said the new requirements are especially restrictive concerning black hairstyles, but Prouse said it is intended to apply to all the office's 36 employees.
"They had not gotten any complaints from the judges or attorneys that I deal with," Bostick said.
County Commissioner Harris Odell, an attorney, said he didn't see anything unprofessional about Bostick's hair.
"I saw her hair and thought it looked very attractive."
Odell said he understands the need for professional standards in a court setting, but has problems with regulating hairstyles.
"If a person in my office wanted to wear the hairstyle she was wearing, it would be perfectly acceptable to me," Odell said. "I don't think my white or black clients would be offended."
The county human resources department, which approved the policy, is aware of Bostick's complaint.
Bostick said nothing about her hair has affected her ability to work.
"This has nothing to do about performance," she said. "It's all about appearance."