The House Civil Law Committee approves legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against a person based on certain hairstyles. That would include afros, dreadlocks, braids and other styles of cultural significance. New Orleans Representative Candace Newell is the author of the bill.
“And I believe we should all be protected on our jobs and not be fearful of losing our jobs or not getting hired, because of the way we choose to style the hair,” said Newell.
Newell says it’s not just African Americans who could be victims of hair discrimination.
“In an area that I represent, I have several white gentlemen who have beautiful dreadlocks and I believe they should be protected just as an African-American man or woman who has dreadlocks,” said Newell.
Newell says hair color is not part of the bill, so an employer could fire an employee for having blue, purple or green hair.
The measure passed on an eight to six vote as two Republicans joined Democrats on the panel to vote for the legislation. Abita Springs Republican Larry Frieman says the bill leaves it open-ended on what hairstyles would be protected under this proposed discrimination law.
“These things are here, plus anything else that might be included, so I don’t know what else might be included, so we maybe voted for something that could include a lot of other things that we don’t even know about yet,” said Frieman.
The House Labor Committee defeated a similar bill earlier in the session.
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