Employer in San Diego sued for discrimination over natural hairstyle

An African-American man from California is suing his former employer, alleging that the company denied him a job because he refused to cut his dreadlocks. The discrimination lawsuit was filed by Jeffrey Thornton of San Diego last week in a state court. Thornton's lawyer Adam Kent accuses the event planning company Encore Global in the lawsuit of denying his client a job as a technical supervisor. An unnamed hiring manager at Encore global told Thornton that he first needed to trim his locks off his ears, eyes and shoulders in order to get the job. 

The lawsuit states, "In order to take the job, Mr. Thornton would have to materially alter his hairstyle, and thus his appearance, cultural identity and racial heritage." The event management company Encore Global is based in Illinois but has an office in San Diego, which is where Thorton applied for the job. He has been working for the company for four years in Florida before he was furloughed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Encore, however, said in a statement that Thornton misunderstood the statement from the hiring manager and he is welcome to rejoin the company. The emailed statement said, "We regret any miscommunication with Mr. Thornton regarding our standard grooming policies — which he appears to fully meet and we have made him an offer of employment." It also said that the company officials are reviewing the grooming policies to avoid potential miscommunications in the future. 

Thornton's case is the first time that someone has accused an employer of violating California's CROWN Act since the legislation took effect in 2020. 

Source: CBS News