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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Fashion in eye of employer
(DALE CUMMINGS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
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It's illegal in some countries for men to appear in public without a shirt, while other areas allow men to wear nothing but loincloths. Women may go topless in remote areas of Bali, while driving without shoes in North America is regarded as foolish, although not necessarily illegal.
As for bald-headed women, well, it's hard to identify a country where the practice is verboten, but it's a big world and anything is possible.
It is not illegal for women to shave their heads in Canada and many young women, in fact, have adopted the shaved look as a style preference. Everyone is free to make personal choices about their appearance, up to and including the practice of what some old fogies might call self-mutilation.
No one has the right, however, to demand that other people approve of their fashion choices. In fact, employers have a legal right to "establish standards for the look of employees while they are working." Business owners have a right, for example, to deny employment to teenagers who insist on wearing metal piercings, or who wear their hair in outlandish ways.
What's reasonable depends on the job and the circumstances, but sometimes it's also a grey area. Stephanie Lozinski stepped into that twilight zone when she decided to shave her head in support of a relative who was sick with cancer.
The noble gesture upset the owner of the St. Boniface restaurant where she worked. Ms. Lozinski was fired and she has since suggested she is a victim of sexual discrimination on the grounds that the same rules might not be applied to a man.
She has not filed a formal complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, but, if she did, it would be the first such case in the commission's history, according to executive director Diana Scarth.
Ms. Scarth says it's impossible to say how the commission might rule in such a case, but it could go either way. She believes the owner of the restaurant would have to show why a bald woman might be offensive to his clients or his business reputation, while a clean-headed man would be considered acceptable.
The owner of the restaurant may have misjudged society's tolerance for bald women (as well as their esthetic appeal), but, in the absence of other evidence, he has a right to make decisions about the look of his employees. The lesson for workers and employers is that the fashion rules should be laid out in writing to avoid bad hair days in the future.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 28, 2011 A14
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