Banana Republic manager who criticicized employee's braids is fired

[Tennis]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ts-braids.html

A Banana Republic who allegedly told an employee that he refused to schedule more shifts for her because he felt her braids were too 'urban' and 'unkempt' for the chain retailer's image has been fired.

Destiny Tompkins wrote in a Facebook post that she had been employed at the chain's Westchester Mall location in White Plains, New York.

Tompkins said that after the store's district manager, who is white, came to visit, she was called into the office of her store manager, who is also white.

Destiny Tompkins, an employee at a Banana Republic in White Plains, New York, is alleged that her managers refused to schedule more shifts for her unless she removed her box braids. She says her store manager said her braids were too 'urban' and 'unkempt' for the chain retailer's brand image. Banana Republic said Sunday that the manager in question has been fired


She wrote: 'I came in and he questioned me about the dress code and immediately, I thought there was something wrong with my outfit but he sat me down and questioned my hair instead.

'He told me that my braids were not Banana Republic appropriate and that they were too “urban” and “unkempt” for their image.

'He said that if I didn’t take them out then he couldn’t schedule me for shifts until I did.

'When I tried to explain to him that it was a protective style for my hair [because] it tends to become really brittle in the cold, he recommended that I use shea butter for it instead.

'I have never been so humiliated and degraded in my life by a white person.

'In that moment, I felt so uncomfortable and overwhelmed that I didn’t even finish my work shift and ended up leaving.'

Tompkins said that she does not know the last name of her manager but hopes her post will go public in order to 'expose' the store for its 'blatant racism and discrimination'.

'Box braids are not a matter of unprofessionalism, they are protective styles black women have used for their hair and to be discriminated against because of it is truly disgusting and unacceptable,' she wrote. 'There’s no reason why a white person should feel allowed to tell me that I can’t wear my hair the way that I want [because] it’s too black for their store image.'


Her post has garnered nearly 53,000 shares on Facebook.

The question of whether employers are allowed to discriminate based on hair texture is murky, despite the practice technically being labelled as discrimination under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A Banana Republic spokesperson said Sunday that the manager has been fired.

Haha. This manager thought this was acceptable in 2017 but she was wrong. Justice was served. Next time watch what you say!

[Kujako]

Wow... there are still Banana Republic stores open? Thought that was a 90's thing.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Wow... there are still Banana Republic stores open? Thought that was a 90's thing.

If you can explain why it was ever a thing.

[IIamaKing]

Did the employee objectively fall short of dress code standards?

[RyanEX]

Terrible if true.

However we've not seen any proof. Just a she said, he said and she posted her story up on Facebook first with all the correct triggers. Black female victim oppressed by white man. So naturally it got all the hits.

[Jotaux]

Well I could see if the hair was messy but the braids look pretty kempt to me.

[ro9ue]

I think theres a conversation that needs to be had where we discuss to what extent we allow employers to dictate someone's appearance. Is it actually relevant to the business? Is it reasonable for a business owner to control the aesthetic of the employees that work in his or her business?

Tattoos, piercings, clothing and hair styles etc seem to always be things business owners have been allowed to set rules for.

My personal view is that I don't like when humans are treated like mindless robots who have to adhere to arbitrary bullshit (just wait for actual customer service robots), but I do understand the atmosphere people want to create in business. You want uniforms, cleanliness. Maybe hidden tattoos and temporarily remove piercings. I feel like hairstyle is a bit strange to want to control. Would be like particular make up or something. Where that might only be relevant for a haunted house.

[the game]

I think theres a conversation that needs to be had where we discuss to what extent we allow employers to dictate someone's appearance. Is it actually relevant to the business? Is it reasonable for a business owner to control the aesthetic of the employees that work in his or her business?

Tattoos, piercings, clothing and hair styles etc seem to always be things business owners have been allowed to set rules for.

My personal view is that I don't like when humans are treated like mindless robots who have to adhere to arbitrary bullshit (just wait for actual customer service robots), but I do understand the atmosphere people want to create in business. You want uniforms, cleanliness. Maybe hidden tattoos and temporarily remove piercings. I feel like hairstyle is a bit strange to want to control. Would be like particular make up or something. Where that might only be relevant for a haunted house.

You're not forced to do anything. You applied for the job voluntarily. If you don't agree to the terms of that employment then you shouldn't take the job. So lets stop with the "humans treated like mindless robots."

[Kujako]

If you can explain why it was ever a thing.

Had to get our kakis and flannel shirts from someplace!

[Aeluron Lightsong]

You're not forced to do anything. You applied for the job voluntarily. If you don't agree to the terms of that employment then you shouldn't take the job. So lets stop with the "humans treated like mindless robots."

This doesn't work when such rules become common place in the workplace. Thus you are *forced*.

[Erbel]

That looks fucking disgusting and I doubt she washes it often but in no way would I call it unkempt.

[Enjoiskate]

is this even news worthy?

[the game]

This doesn't work when such rules become common place in the workplace. Thus you are *forced*.

you aren't forced to take a job.

[Daedius]

That looks fucking disgusting and I doubt she washes it often but in no way would I call it unkempt.

I too find such braiding, and variants of it like Dreadlocks, to be rather disgusting.

[Deleted]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ts-braids.html

Haha. This manager thought this was acceptable in 2017 but she was wrong. Justice was served. Next time watch what you say!

Did you even read your own quotation? It says the manager fired was male, not female.

[Katchii]

I think theres a conversation that needs to be had where we discuss to what extent we allow employers to dictate someone's appearance. Is it actually relevant to the business? Is it reasonable for a business owner to control the aesthetic of the employees that work in his or her business?

Tattoos, piercings, clothing and hair styles etc seem to always be things business owners have been allowed to set rules for.

My personal view is that I don't like when humans are treated like mindless robots who have to adhere to arbitrary bullshit (just wait for actual customer service robots), but I do understand the atmosphere people want to create in business. You want uniforms, cleanliness. Maybe hidden tattoos and temporarily remove piercings. I feel like hairstyle is a bit strange to want to control. Would be like particular make up or something. Where that might only be relevant for a haunted house.

Hairstyles are a very apparent thing though, meaning it's one of the first things people can see or notice about someone. So if a person is wearing a particularly flamboyant/ extravagant/ attention getting hairstyle it's incredibly noticeable. Imagine a mohawk (real one shaved sides hair sticking straight up, not the faux-hawks many people wear now)on someone wearing a suit and tie...at work. It just wouldn't look right. You expect and react to certain looks and styles based on where you are. A look for a typical Hot Topic employee, likely wouldn't fit very well in a Nordstroms.

I'm totally on board with businesses being able to control the atmosphere they are creating for their customers, and part of that is controlling the look and style of the employees that work there and hairstyle (and color) is one of the things that contributes to that. It's a person choice to work at that place, so they really don't have much say in the matter unless the business is being discriminatory. In this case, I feel that the manager was just stupid and incredibly narrow minded. That hairstyle is pretty mainstream and I don't perceive it as "urban." That said, it's possible for braids to get frizzy and look very unkempt if not properly cared for or maintained so would understand if someone let them get to that state of disarray for their employer to talk to them about it. This girls hair looked really nice. The only aspect of it that I could somewhat understand someone commenting on for an image thing are the beads (or whatever those are) that are scattered throughout which can look very "ethnic" and may or may not blend well with certain styles.

TL: DR - Hairstyle is something an employer should be able to control given how visible it is, but this style in this case didn't need to be changed.

[Freighter]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ts-braids.html



Haha. This manager thought this was acceptable in 2017 but she was wrong. Justice was served. Next time watch what you say!

Where was the racism in this case?

[Deleted]

I think employers should have a say what people are working there and what not. We for example, I work for a middle-sized company of 140 people and I'm overlooking the production of several polymer pre-products and the coating process with plasma, fluorine, CDC, C/PVD and so on. We have not a single overweight person working for us because my bosses and the HR personnel are heavily biased against fat people.

In my position I often tend to hire and have interviews with students working on a final thesis or just for a practical internship. There's a group of people I immediately reject based on their look and expression of themselves. You'll inevitably start categorizing people as soon as you start seeing 20 different faces a day.

[klogaroth]

you aren't forced to take a job.

Sure. You're also under no obligation not to call employers out on their shit if they treat employees badly, are overly restrictive, or discriminatory in some fashion. If it then turns out that that employer decides the situation reflects poorly on them as a brand then they can take action. In this case dismissing the manager in question. Banana Republic were not forced to fire the manager, they chose to based on what they thought would be best for the company.

[Aitch]

What race are the individuals involved in this incident. I feel this I highly pertinent and that it wasn't clarified enough times within the article.

/sarcasm