On Wednesday, July 20th, Aaron R. Gelb and Ashley D. Mitchell presented a webinar regarding Appearance Discrimination Issues, the CROWN Act, and Unconscious Bias.

Appearance-based discrimination occurs when someone is treated differently based on how they look. Although there is no federal law that prohibits “appearance discrimination” in employment, claims involving such issues are typically brought in the context of prohibited race, sex, or disability discrimination allegations. While there was a case several years ago that garnered a good deal of media attention involving a female bank employee who claimed she was told she was “too sexy” for her position, it is more common to encounter claims by women (and men) that they were treated less favorably than a coworker whom the boss found attractive. Obese workers have alleged that they were perceived as disabled because of their weight and employees who wear certain garments and/or jewelry as part of their religion have also filed claims of discrimination. Meanwhile, hairstyles and types are now on the cutting edge of fair employment law compliance.

For years, savvy employers recognized that there may be a need to accommodate certain religious beliefs pertaining to hairstyles, but a growing number of jurisdictions have passed or are considering laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination such as the CROWN Act (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”) which is focused on ending the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots.

Participants in this webinar learned:

• How the EEOC and other fair employment agencies evaluate appearance discrimination claims
• What proactive employers can and should do to avoid such claims
• Which states and local jurisdiction have passed or will likely soon pass CROWN Act laws
• How employers can create policies and procedures that address appearance discrimination
• Best practices for avoiding appearance discrimination claims

This program was valid for 1.00 PDCs for the SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.

We are pleased to share these links to a copy of the slides and a recording of the program.

If you would like to be registered for the entire 2022 Labor and Employment Webinar series, click here to send us an email request, and we will register you.

This was the 7th webinar event in Conn Maciel Carey LLP’s 2022 Labor and Employment Webinar Series.  Click here to view our full schedule and detailed program descriptions for all of the webinars scheduled for the 2022 Labor and Employment Webinar Series.

If you missed any of our past webinars in our annual Labor and Employment Webinar Series, view our Labor and Employment Webinar Library to access of our webinar recordings. Also, click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel and get an email notification when new recordings become available.