by Fred Jackson
(AgapePress) – A report says there has been a major jump in lawsuits related to on-the-job dress codes, due in part, it says, to the growing number of immigrants in the workplace.
USA Today reported this week that Federal Express is among the latest companies to be sued over its company dress code. Sources tell the paper that the suit involves a company policy that forbids customer service agents from wearing dreadlocks, a hairstyle associated with Rastafarian religious beliefs.
In another case, Domino’s Pizza dropped its longstanding ban on beards after a lawsuit from a Sikh job applicant who claimed he did not get the job because of his facial hair. He said the policy was discriminatory because his religion forbids him to shave.
And last month in Washington, D.C., a federal judge ordered six firefighters reinstated. They had been put on leave after claiming their religious beliefs prevented them from shaving or cutting their hair.
Strangely enough, a Christian police officer in Texas was fired in the last few years for refusing to remove a cross lapel pin from his uniform. His bosses claimed it violated department policy. In April, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the firing.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)