NYC Is Banning HAIR DISCRIMINATION

WOOWOWOWOW.

NYC doing the IMPORTANT work, folks.

Have you ever had a job with a dress code that mandates your hair be worn in a certain way according to their standards of professionalism?

WELL, THAT’S RACIST.

NYC is making sure bosses have absolutely no control over the image their employees present while on the clock. Because OF COURSE they are.

According to BPR:

New York City is literally unleashing a form of fashion police.

In a first-of-its-kind policy, the so-called sanctuary city run by Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio announced it will be prosecuting anyone caught discriminating based on a person’s hairstyle.

New guidelines are expected to be released this week by the New York City Commission on Human Rights which will ban hair-based harassment as a form of racial discrimination, according to The New York Times, which reported that the law is especially “aimed at remedying the disparate treatment of black people.”

…wut?

The guidelines specifically note banning discrimination against anyone wearing “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”

Yeahhhh.

So basically you’re not allowed to ask black employees to follow any sort of standards when it comes to their hair. You can probably still get away with telling white employees to follow the rules.

The new law targets business and employer policies which ban some hairstyles that are “based on racist standards of appearance,” according to Carmelyn P. Malalis, the commissioner and chairwoman of the human rights commission.

GOT IT.

“There’s nothing keeping us from calling out these policies prohibiting natural hair or hairstyles most closely associated with black people,” and that push “racist stereotypes that say black hairstyles are unprofessional or improper,” she told the Times.

And the penalties are STEEP.

Those found guilty of the discrimination banned in the new law could face up to $250,000 fines with no cap on damages. But workplace violations are not the only ones subject to the policy, as CBS New York points out that nightclubs, gyms, schools and other locations outside of just a person’s place of employment can face penalties.

Sooooo basically business owners in NYC can no longer set expectations of appearance while on the job.

Or else they’ll get sued out of existence.

Wonderful.

Listen – I think people should wear their hair WHICHEVER WAY THEY WANT. I also think business owners should be allowed to have their employees look WHICHEVER WAY THEY WANT while at work. It’s about freedom for EVERYONE. Now asking your employees to keep their hair trimmed and neat during work can END YOUR BUSINESS? How is that right?

New York is REALLY making sure we know how they feel about private business lately, huh?