Jobseeker accuses Carowinds of discrimination

Interesting quote from that article El Gato,

“When you think of extreme, you think of mohawks, not dreadlocks,” Ms Devnani said.

So even this girl who has dreadlocks thinks of her hair as normal, nut thinks of mohawks as extreme. People have all sorts of barriers and lines, Cedar Fair is just playing it safe.

I still keep going back in my head about what Jeff said about Microsoft getting it. At my office there are people who dress in business casual and people who dress in beach casual. We seem to all fit in together. Had my boss judged my co-worker with full sleeve tattoos down to his hands or another who was dressed in a skirt and blouse we would have missed out on two good people.

Clothes don't make the man. So if clothes don't make the man why would you judge someone based on their clothes?

And for the record, I never said dressing up commands respect, I simply said it was respectful.

Jeff said:
Can we not agree that in this specific case that hiring a girl with dreads is not going to bankrupt the company?

Yes

Can we also agree that hiring a person dressed in a suit and tie is not going to bankrupt a company?

I do see the point you're trying to make in that last sentence, but it's a lot like suggesting a white male is likely to be discriminated against for being white. It's possible, but a fringe case. The reality is that majorities infrequently risk rejection, whether it be based in race, religion or hairstyle.

I usually wear a t-shirt and cargo shorts or jeans to the office. One of my coworkers wore a suit and tie today. I have longish, messy hair, a goatee, and earrings. One of my coworkers has a military style cut. I get to go out in public sometimes and represent my company. I recently was asked to speak at a grade school about being a newspaper reporter during career day, with my long hair, earrings, goatee, and cargo shorts...lol The kids loved it and the School's principal can't wait to have me come back the next time.

My employer hired me because of what I could do and how well I could do it, not because of my good looks.

edit - I love the bold direction that this thread has been going into.

IMHO, as an interviewer and manager, I find that asking someone to comply with dress codes/appearance standards adds responsibility to the person. For safety and other issues in which you wish for every employee to comply, if someone is not willing to adjust their appearance, and to wear the type of clothing that you want them to wear, how can you then later feel comfortable that they are following the other standards you have set for them.

If you can't break their spirit before their first day, how do you expect them to follow your bidding throughout the rest of their employment? ;)

Someone's always out to get you, aren't they?

Everyone...lol

You are safe from me until after Labor Day.

LK, the career day gig is cool. But if you want to use that as an argument that there should be no such thing as a dress code in any business, I'm not buying it.

You might see it as a means to keep you from expressing yourself, or to force everyone to conform. But like sayhi mentions, it's also an issue of responsibility. In my business, if a person decides that standards for grooming and appearance don't apply, it would throw up a red flag for me. If an employee won't abide by that because they think it doesn't apply or make sense to them, what are they going to do about all the rules we're required to follow by the state and feds? Many of them seem out of date and don't make sense, but if an employee decides to blow them off, it means big financial and legal trouble for the company. If it comes down to a choice between "free expression" and "conformity," guess who's going to win?

Bear, This is probably the first thing we've ever disagreed on. I know that I'm on the losing end of this discussion. Hell, I am almost always on the losing end of every CoasterBuzz discussion, and, oddly enough, I like it that way.

I follow the standards of grooming for my job, which is always shower before work(lol). If I sold ads or met with customers who wanted a print job, I would probably make more money for the business if I dressed up. But I don't. I report, take photos, layout the paper, pick up the papers from the printer, stuff them with inserts, and deliver them to the post offices and news paper boxes, among other things. T-shirts and cargo shorts work for my duties.

My present employment situation is unique. It works for me, and i get the whole "chose a job that suits your style of dress" point. At Target, I had to wear a red shirt every day, and I hated it. The Jurassic Park uniform was fun to wear when I worked at IOA, plus I copuld wear my earrings and spikey hair at the park.

So what if I were to say that I'd love to see your place of employment to change too? Wouldn't it be awesome if your boss had a nosering and jet black, sholder length hair? :)

"Customers" and "the public" need to simmer down with their conclusion jumping. That's all I am saying. I am especially talking about McJob positions, like pretzel tonger, Pizza Cashier, or Ride Operator. That'd be a good place to start in getting the public used to people who are different than they are.

I'm not saying that it'll ever happen either. Some people in this world are way to judgemental for that to ever happen.

Real quick because my son is getting up and needs to be fed. I probably won't have much time to check on responses, so do what you will with the comment. I also skipped to the back not having time to read everything, so it may have been stated.

Someone mentioned CF getting bad press for the not hiring of dreadlocks. In this time of economic downturn, when this topic is debatable. Any press is good press. It's FREE advertisement. Most people at least understand where CF is coming from and won't stay away from there because of it. Some people, many actually, will side with CF. I'd say take the getting your name out there for free. Even though it's not because of a new ride.

With record numbers of applicant all over the place you have to present yourself even better than before. Companies can pick and chose who they feel BEST fits THEIR company. As long as it is not because of race and all the other REAL discriminations out there. If I could get hired there at this time doing something I could do, behind the scenes, I am not very outgoing. I would dress up more than needed for the job interview. Make sure I was clean shaven and all. Here's the thing. Eliminate anything that someone interviewing you may not like. This doesn't mean my job interviewer does not like beards, goatees, mustache, or what ever. But most people agree that clean shaven isn't going to get me turned away. One of the others could leave a bad impression. It doesn't even have to be consciously leaving a bad impression. The are hundreds of people applying fo jobs now. I would not show up with dreadlocks.