Suit: Millennium Hotel forced lifeguard to shave head despite skin problemKenneth Francis shows bald patches that he contends haven?t regrown after his former boss at the One UN Plaza Millennium Hotel, where he had worked as a lifeguard, forced him to shave. A former lifeguard at the ritzy One UN Plaza Millennium Hotel says he ...
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Suit: Millennium Hotel forced lifeguard to shave head despite skin problem
Bit more. The gentleman in question had been an employee not of the hotel but of the Millenium Health Club and Spa. A new supervisor arrived and ordered the man to shave his head although there were no regulations requiring that-there were restrictions on length of hair as well as "excessive" use of hair care products. Mr. Francis, the shorn gentleman claims to have "barber's rash" which, after he shaved his head, caused not only bald patches, some of which have not reqrown, but caused suppurating boil-like lesions. The incident occurred in July and he was subsequently fired in September following a complaint from his representatives.
That's what I could find doing a quick bit of research. But what I found is more puzzling than the headline itself.
Apart from the military, I can think of no place where shaving one's head is mandatory. It may be that certain business' for their own reasons request that their male employees shave their heads-imagine a saloon called "Daddy Warbucks"-but apart from volunteering to do it or signing on at a place where a shaved head was a known policy, then the spa and health club acted irresponsibly. Having been told that there was a viable medical condition just makes it worse. However, trying to be balanced, Mr. Francis, on the day he was told to shave his head, did so knowing, one assumes, that this condition existed. I have a shaved head BUT if an employer had come to me when I was still fully furred and ordered me into the locker room/bathroom I would have refused. Moreover, I would immediately have left the facility to try and understand what was going on. Mr. Francis is 6'8" tall so I will assume he wasn't easily frightened by someone telling him to go shave.
Which leads us to where we are now. Does he have a legitimate cause for action, probably and I say "probably" as there are some questions I'd like answered were I the jurist hearing this. One imagines this is the sort of story that popped up as it's a slow news day in New York and there is a certain amusement value but we're not likely to know what happens unless we pursue the issue. And, ladies and gentleman, I'm going to pursue the issue. PJ
There is a similar case out there in which an African American man sued his company for racial discrimination. The comapny enacted a dress code that included a ban on facial hair. He explained that his extremely curly hair became ingrown if he shaved, and offered to wear a tightly cropped beard as he had been doing for years. The company refused, and he was fired for not following the dress code.
The court ruled in his favor.