Hairdresser sued for veiled woman
13 November 2007
A hairdresser is being sued by a Muslim teenager who claims she was knocked back for a job because she wore a headscarf.
Bushra Noah, 19, is suing London-based hairdresser Sarah Desrosiers for religious discrimination in a case estimated to be worth at least £15,000.
Desrosiers has rejected the allegation and says she turned down Noah’s job application because it was an “absolutely basic” requirement that customers could see their stylist’s hair.
“The essence of my line of work is the display of hair,”claims Desrosiers.
“To me, it’s absolutely basic that people should be able to see the stylist’s hair.
“It has nothing to do with religion.
“It is just unfortunate that for her covering her hair symbolises religion.”
Desrosiers said she had never discriminated against Muslims and felt she had been victimised.
“My accountant is Muslim,” she said.
“This girl is suing me for more than I earn in a year.
“I am a small business and have only had my salon a year and a half.”
Noah is an experienced stylist but has been rejected for 25 jobs.
She was invited to work in Desrosiers salon in London for a trial day in March after sending in her resume.
But Noah alleges that when she turned up wearing a headscarf she was discriminated against and treated rudely.
“When I got there, she looked at me in shock,” Noah told the newspaper.
“She started making excuses about wanting someone who lived locally but I knew it was the headscarf.
“She asked if I wore it all the time and I said: ‘Yes’. She asked if I would take it off for work and I said: ‘No’.”
The case is due to be heard by an employment tribunal in January.
Entry Filed under: 1. Tags: Bushra Noah, hairdresser, muslim, Sarah Desrosiers, sued, veil.
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1.
Lee | 14 November 2007 at 2:26 pm
It’s a joke!
She doesn’t HAVE to wear it, but she chooses to wear it. It’s unfair!
If I had a company, and someone was not willing to dress in the right way for the job, they would not get the job. The fact that she is not willing to meet in the middle ground means she is the one who is stopping herself from getting a job in a salon.
I think she needs to choose another job type if she is that stubborn.
Maybe she doesn’t really want to work and wants to try and get some easy money!
I hope she loses!
2.
fi | 1 April 2008 at 3:21 am
Ugh.
Sad to see recently that this did eventually make it to court.
I think she is clearly out to make a buck off the salon owner by attempting to abuse the justice system.
Making ridiculous claims of discrimination in a case like this belittles the real thing.
I hope she realises what damage she’s doing in her pathetic little get-rich-quick attempt.
She wasn’t turned down because of her religion, but her choice of clothing. It’s her choice, and she chose the headscarf over the job.
Aside from the reasoning that hair should be uncovered to advertise the taste and skill of those at the salon,
the purpose of the hijab is modesty – not wearing it is immodest. I for one would be uncomfortable getting my hair cut by someone who clearly thinks uncovered hair in public is immodest and distasteful, just as I would be uncomfortable if my waiter in a steakhouse was wearing a “meat-is-murder” tshirt (perhaps an object just as important to his personal beliefs as a muslim woman’s scarf is to her’s)
3.
Al Hutton | 1 April 2008 at 10:30 am
I think it is dispicable that she thinks she can get away with this.
It is obvious that any employee would have to meet job requirements and I would never dream of going to a hairdressing firm whose workers do not show their hairstyles.
On top of this, she is attempting to ruin someone’s career and life, while using ‘racism’ as her reason. This monatary perversion paints a terrible and unfair picture on British living Muslim’s today.
4.
Denise | 3 April 2008 at 10:44 pm
Ah, the all encompassing charge of racism. Except that Islam is not a race, so how exactly is Miss Noah being discriminated against?
She’s made herself look as unattractive as possible so why would anyone want to emulate her? They call it a beauty shop for a reason.
5.
david k | 11 June 2009 at 2:40 pm
This topic is now over a year old (I just stumbled onto this today), but what if this woman applied for a job at a nightclub where the women are all scantily dressed, and she refused to wear anything other than Muslim clothing. Would she have a case there too? Where should the line be drawn? I am a guy, and maybe it’s different for women, but if a woman had her head covered, I wouldn’t mind her cutting my hair. So maybe that’s why this case was a little tricky. I am assuming the judge was a man? I can see that if a woman wants to have some special styling done to her hair, and she had to choose among a number of hairdressers at a salon, she’d probably pick a stylist she can identify with, and that would probably not be the girl with the hair covering. I hope the woman that lost this case was able to raise the money by now to pay the judgement. I didn’t see anything about this on the internet.