Pennsylvania Passes CROWN Act-But California Already Has One

The governor of Pennsylvania recently made news when he signed a bill into law, called the CROWN Act. And while the Act is new in Pennsylvania, here in California, we have always had the CROWN Act, a law that provides important protection to California workers.

Your Hair is Protected

The law has to do with hair, and employee’s right to hairstyle in the workplace (in fact, CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair).

For many years, there were employers who would tell employees what hairstyles that they could and could not wear to work. While on the surface this seems fine, because you can’t discriminate on hairstyle, and people can always change their hairstyle, many employees were finding that employers were banning hairstyles that were traditionally associated with certain nationalities or races.

In that way, banning hairstyles became kind of a way to “discriminate legally” even though on the face of it, employers would say that these rules had nothing to do with race or nationality at all.

Is it Race/Nationality or is it Just Hair?

Hairstyle, for many, is not just a style; it is a tradition and a symbol of their culture, race or nationality. Courts grappled with whether hair-at-work policies were just that — only hair policies — or whether they represented a tacit, hidden form of discrimination.

But in states like California, and others (including now Pennsylvania), discrimination based on race is not limited to race — it is also extended to prohibit discrimination on any traits closely associated with a race. That includes (but isn’t just limited to) certain hairstyles.

Hair Has Been Used to Discriminate in Workplaces

Research has shown that policies that restrict certain hairstyles, do tend to impact people of color more so than other demographic groups.

In a Dove research study conducted in 2023, in support of the CROWN Act, 2/3 of black women reported having to change their hairstyle in job interviews, because of perceived discrimination. Half of black women reported feeling it was necessary to have straight hair in headshots. The study also found that black women with braids were more likely to be victims of macroaggressions at work. Black women also were reported to be sent home because of hairstyle, 1.5% more often than others were.

Getting Around the Law

Many employers will seek to evade the restriction of CROWN Acts, by being less obvious.

For example, they may require “a professional appearance,” and thus, try to claim that their policy does not discriminate on hairstyle, race or culture. Or worse, employers or co-workers might comment that a hairstyle is “not professional” or “doesn’t look American,” or use similar language. This is all discriminatory and can lead to claims of discrimination and harassment.

There are, of course, exceptions to the law, where hair must be kept a certain way for health or safety reasons — for example, requiring hair be covered in a restaurant, or tied back when working with heavy machinery.

Contact the San Jose employment discrimination attorneys at the Costanzo Law Firm today for help.

Source:

naacpldf.org/crown-act/