Am I being treated unfairly if the men and women at my workplace have a different dress code?
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Am I being treated unfairly if the men and women at my workplace have a different dress code?
I’m a male. Women are allowed to have extreme hair color at the tattoo shop I work at, as well as facial piercings. In fact, 1 other male has facial piercings. I’m told that I cannot wear my piercings or have my hair an extreme color. No written dress code has ever been given to me; I was just told by the owner verbally.
Asked on November 3, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Colorado
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
It *may* be illegal gender-based discrimination, but it's not clear: while employers may not, as a general proposition, treat men and women differently, that principal runs up against the counterveiling principal that employers may promulgate dress codes for their employees, which dress codes may take into consideration community expectations for reasonable dress, so if in your community, extreme hair color or facial piercings is considered more acceptable for women than men, the employer may be able to have different dress codes for men and women to reflect that.
In addition, if another male has facial piercings, that undercuts the argument that this is gender-based discrimination--the employer may simply not favor *you* as an individual (or prefer the other male), and the law allows employees to be treated differently so long as the difference is not due to protected class differences, like gender.
In short: you have stated a situation would may be illegal discrimation, but is far from a clear-cut case, which means that you could not file a complaint (e.g. with the EEOC or your state civil/equal rights agency) or a lawsuit with any real or strong degree of confidence in the outcome.
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