Should employers be able to discrimate against body piercings/tattoos?

[Jesse Pinkman]

I admit, I can take out my piercing and choose not to get a tattoo, but I can also choose to change my religion (or even gender!). And nobody is going to terminate employment or refuse to hire me in America if I change my religion (or even sex). So why is it okay to discriminate against other aspects that are a personal choice? I can see skin color, that can't be changed (unless you're Michael Jackson and become a white woman). But I can't have a ring in my eyebrow? Long hair as a male? I'm just curious how far this goes?

[Deleted]

Anyone that gets a tattoo that cannot be covered by a shirt is a fool, and employers should treat them as such.

[Thalian]

Most people don't want a man with threatening or elaborate tattoos greeting people or ... representing their company in any way.

[Themius]

If it's not a nazi tattoo I don't see the problem.

[Jesse Pinkman]

Anyone that gets a tattoo that cannot be covered by a shirt is a fool, and employers should treat them as such.

Anyone that chooses to be Christian is a fool, and employers should treat them as such.

See how easy that is?

[Rukentuts]

I can see skin color, that can't be changed (unless you're Michael Jackson and become a white woman).

Michael Jackson actually had a condition that breaks down melanin in the skin and causes him to look white. This appears in patches, so he just evened it all out into the inevitable.

[Deleted]

I don't see how it's discrimination anyway. You choose to pierce/tattoo yourself at places where you can't cover them. It's discrimination if there's something you can't do about it.

Also, I wouldn't wanna employ someone who could potentially scare certain customers away. Why would I do that over someone who won't?

[Deleted]

Anyone that chooses to be Christian is a fool, and employers should treat them as such.

See how easy that is?

Unless said Christian has a cross tattooed on their forehead, you won't know until they tell you.

[Rukentuts]

If it's not a nazi tattoo I don't see the problem.

Appearances in many positions matter.

You don't want a corporate salesman that looks like you just picked him up from the hood.

[Forgettable]

It's their company, so sure they should be able to pick and choose who they want to work for them.

[pucGG]

Imagine now that you are an employer, which one would you want greeting your customers.

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/20...pg?w=450&h=317
or
http://blog.clickmeeting.com/uploads...9/salesman.jpg

I would also discriminate against smelly people, people who don't give a shit about their appeance, lazy people etc. etc.

[Hatelocker]

The world's not fair. People make assumptions based on your looks and if you look like a fool/hooligan/whatever or whatever doesn't mix with the presentation the business is trying to put out (i.e. it could even be a tattoo parlor and I would be willing to bet they aren't going to hire you if you are a straight laced accountant looking guy as that's not the type of people who their customers are used to seeing or are generally attracted to). Your boss is paying you to advance his business and if he doesn't think you will then you don't get the job.

[ptwonline]

If you're in a "Right-to-Work" state they can fire you for pretty much any reason they want, as long as they don't actually admit it's because of race, etc.

If your job is such that the sales or reputation of your company could be affected by how others see your employees, then I would say yes: firing/not hiring because of somethig about your appearance should be allowed. For exampe, an ugly person wouldn't be able to sue for not getting a modeling or spokesperson gig.

Now, if it's just a matter of personal preference then that is much more debateable. A qualified young man with satanic tattoos probably wouldn't be high on my list for a potential employee, unless I was really desperate. Is that a good enough reason to not hire him? Dunno.

[Jesse Pinkman]

Imagine now that you are an employer, which one would you want greeting your customers.

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/20...pg?w=450&h=317
or
http://blog.clickmeeting.com/uploads...9/salesman.jpg

I would also discriminate against smelly people, people who don't give a shit about their appeance, lazy people etc. etc.

It depends on the business, honestly. The 1st pic would go nice in a bar setting. The other guy, honestly, looks like a suck up. But I would hire either for whatever company if they're qualified. I honestly don't see the problem with tattoos or piercings. But that's just me.

[AbsolutePitch]

Imagine now that you are an employer, which one would you want greeting your customers.

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/20...pg?w=450&h=317
or
http://blog.clickmeeting.com/uploads...9/salesman.jpg

I would also discriminate against smelly people, people who don't give a shit about their appeance, lazy people etc. etc.

I love how you chose a black dude for your first example and a white one for the second. I honestly find that contrast pushes your point even more than the tattoo distinction, possibly intentionally.

Edit: furthermore, you also went for clear extremes to deliver your point, which is just poor argument. Your first example had tattoos on his cheeks and his forehead, and the second looked like Barney from HIMYM (terribly overrated show btw). Very fairly demonstrated.

[Jesse Pinkman]

I love how you chose a black dude for your first example and a white one for the second. I honestly find that contrast pushes your point even more than the tattoo distinction, possibly intentionally.

Oh please, there are plently of neo nazis that look just the same. We're not talking about race here.

[pucGG]

I love how you chose a black dude for your first example and a white one for the second. I honestly find that contrast pushes your point even more than the tattoo distinction, possibly intentionally.

I knew someone would make a fuzz about it. Yeah it was intentional, a social experiment if you will.

[Themius]

I don't see how it's discrimination anyway. You choose to pierce/tattoo yourself at places where you can't cover them. It's discrimination if there's something you can't do about it.

Also, I wouldn't wanna employ someone who could potentially scare certain customers away. Why would I do that over someone who won't?

Choices can be discriinated against. I can choose to wear green and there could be employers that hate green so much they wouldn't want to hire a person wearing it. That's discrimination.

[Jesse Pinkman]

I knew someone would make a fuzz about it. Yeah it was intentional, a social experiment if you will.

And how were the results?

[Themius]

Appearances in many positions matter.

You don't want a corporate salesman that looks like you just picked him up from the hood.

Well I know, I wouldn't get piercings or a tattoo, and it wouldn't work well with my field (if it's not able to be hidden in a suite), but in a perfect world I don't think there should be any negative connotation, unless it itself is actually negative.