Zone1 16-year-old Chick-Fil-A worker sent home over ‘unnatural’ hair color

[Rawley]

The issue is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Being sent home from work for violation of a company's dress code is hurtful. I know that she's been told that she hasn't done anything wrong but as she indicated, she'd rather work somewhere else where her braids are not an issue.

She's free to do so.

You've never made a mistake in your professional life? Ever? Not once? Never? Seems to be that's what you are saying.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

She's free to do so.

You've never made a mistake in your professional life? Ever? Not once? Never? Seems to be that's what you are saying.

Of course I have made mistakes in my professional life. I still do from time to time, but fortunately, the consequences for those mistakes have not been very severe in the overall scheme of things - forgetting to file a quarterly report, forgetting a condition in a query that would have exposed PII data had not the mistake been caught before the report was published, etc. I mean even the IRS doesn't come in and shut down your business if you make a mistake on your return, they just want you to pay what you should have paid had you not made the mistake.

This is not the end of the world for Chick-fil-A, hopefully they learned that they can't discriminate, that they could be fined if they do the same thing again or something else that violates the 1964 CRA. And the person who made the mistake in all likelihood will not be fired, demoted or anything else, probably just required to attend training that explains the CRA laws, everyone they apply to, and the things they shouldn't be doing in order to avoid running afoul of the CRA laws again.

I mean no one is showing up at that store with pitchforks and torches right? So what is the problem with them being required to learn what not to do in the future?

 

[Rawley]

Of course I have made mistakes in my professional life. I still do from time to time, but fortunately, the consequences for those mistakes have not been very severe in the overall scheme of things - forgetting to file a quarterly report, forgetting a condition in a query that would have exposed PII data had not the mistake been caught before the report was published, etc. I mean even the IRS doesn't come in and shut down your business if you make a mistake on your return, they just want you to pay what you should have paid had you not made the mistake.

This is not the end of the world for Chick-fil-A, hopefully they learned that they can't discriminate, that they could be fined if they do the same thing again or something else that violates the 1964 CRA. And the person who made the mistake in all likelihood will not be fired, demoted or anything else, probably just required to attend training that explains the CRA laws, everyone they apply to, and the things they shouldn't be doing in order to avoid running afoul of the CRA laws again.

I mean no one is showing up at that store with pitchforks and torches right? So what is the problem with them being required to learn what not to do in the future?

Well, that is certainly different from your original argument that "The issue is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place." Glad to see that you realize that please can make mistakes.

 

[AZrailwhale]

I took the civil service exam in Los Angeles county when I was a teenager and got hired into a job I wasn't old enough to actually work. Cashiers had to be at least 18 years old and I believe I was 16 at the time they mistakenly hired me.

My manger said they apparently didn't notice my age, but selected me because I had the highest score out of everyone who took the exam. That makes sense to me, a high school kid whose focus was math and science. No way to prove it to you, but it's the truth.

I took the CHP dispatcher exam when I was in college. I scored in the ninety ninety percentile between the exam and the verbal interview. After a month I called to check on when I would be hired and was told the CHP was only hiring women and minorities for the foreseeable future due to a court mandated ”equity” hiring program. Not a big deal in the long run since I wanted to be a cop, not a civilian dispatcher. But it sure would have been a nice side job while I was in school.

 

[MarathonMike]

Cool video, yeah whatever. As an engineer you should be driven by logic and analysis, not emotion.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Well, that is certainly different from your original argument that "The issue is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place." Glad to see that you realize that please can make mistakes.

I stand by my original statement, it shouldn't have happened but now that it has, the wrong thing to do is to try to downplay what has occurred or attack people who happen to know that what was done was wrong and that there IS a remedy for the offense. And the remedy is NOT anything horrible in the overall scheme of things, it's an opportunity for the company to learn something about the civil rights laws and make changes so that this and/or other incidents don't occur again, at least not in that store, among those managers and staff members.

But since there is no guarantee that it won't happen again, then we should continue to raise awareness when these incidents do occur and do all that we can to see that they are remediated in a way that is satisfactory to everyone involved. That doesn't always happen which is why we keep reporting on these incidents and trying to get them in front of the proper authorities.

Oh and just for the record, I didn't have any good examples of mistakes I've made earlier but what I've tried very carefully to ensure is that nothing I do negatively impacts the rights of any of my workers, especially if they are subcontracting with my company.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Cool video, yeah whatever. As an engineer you should be driven by logic and analysis, not emotion.

I think so, that was my life back when I was turning 21.

Who told you that I am an engineer and why do you think this is about emotion? When you get pulled over by the police, do you assume that the officer is ticketing you due to how they're feeling emotionally that day or because you violated a traffic law?

This is no different.

 

[gtopa1]

Well if I am "usually" a liar, then it should be very easy for you to point out the lies I've told right? Go ahead, list them and I will address each and every one and concede anything I've intentionally lied about but you will need to come up with a way to determine what is truthful and what is not.

You game? Any of you?

"There are some people, mainly white racists, who believe Black people do not, can not, but more importantly, should not have blond hair"

I've never even heard that canard before, LIAR!!!!

Also I know two albino "blacks" who are frankly great lads...or were when I knew them. That was over 30 years ago!!!

Greg

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I took the CHP dispatcher exam when I was in college. I scored in the ninety ninety percentile between the exam and the verbal interview. After a month I called to check on when I would be hired and was told the CHP was only hiring women and minorities for the foreseeable future due to a court mandated ”equity” hiring program. Not a big deal in the long run since I wanted to be a cop, not a civilian dispatcher. But it sure would have been a nice side job while I was in school.

Do you think the fact that I got the highest score means that I WAS qualified even if I prevented a white person from getting a top slot?

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I've never even heard that canard before, LIAR!!!!

And you represent the entire white race or just the white racists?

 

[frigidweirdo]

She's only 16 years old and she has already been impacted by the type of systemic racism that we've been describing. It's not being called the N-word, or having a cross burned on your lawn. That's overt racism and easily understood. But there are a multitude of microaggressions and subtle forms of racism that we as Black people endure throughout our lives. We don't have to go looking for it, it finds us since the damage of founding this country on the premise of white superiority is still engrained in many parts and many of the people of the U.S. today.

I remember we were discussing the issues that Black hair causes for some white racists and many of the posters here did not believe it or claimed we were exaggerating or playing the race card. You all don't see it because you don't experience it due to not being Black but it still persists.

I'm glad she filed a complaint with the EEOC. I hope they step up and do their job properly so that this young lady doesn't have to experience the second tier of racism - "justice denied".

By the way, I'm pretty sure by unnatural hair colors they were referring to the rainbow colors that celebrities such as Megan Rapino and Billie Ilish sport, pink and lime green.

HARRISBURG, N.C. (WJZY) — Sixteen-year-old Autumn Williams is still trying to understand how the blonde hair color in her braids was deemed unnatural at her Chick-Fil-A job.​

​

She says she felt singled out and embarrassed.​

​

She’d only been working at a Chick-Fil-A in Harrisburg, North Carolina, for three months before she was pulled aside for an apparent uniform violation. What she was told caught her caught off guard.​

​

“She was like, ‘Hey, one of our supervisors came by and said they noticed blonde in your hair, and he asked that you leave and come back when it’s taken out since it’s an unnatural color to you,'” Williams said.​

​

This is the color Williams says she had at the time:​

​

(Courtesy of Autumn Williams)© Provided by WNCN Raleigh​

“I don’t know what blonde is in my hair because my braids were brown, and there wasn’t blonde in them, (even though) my natural hair color is blonde,” Williams said. “And the guy, when I had orientation, he never said anything about my hair color or it being an issue.”​

​

She claims other coworkers also had unnatural hair colors, but she was singled out.​

​

When she asked her human resources supervisor for clarification about unnatural hair colors, he referred Williams to the employee handbook.​

​

But the handbook doesn’t specify what unnatural colors are.​

​

She says the lack of clarification led to her quitting.​

​

Chick-Fil-A responded to a request for comment, saying:​

​

“The operator reached out to (Autumn) Williams today and had a good conversation. ​

In further detail, the operator explained that the policy was misinterpreted and said Williams was not terminated and she’s more than welcome to come back and work at the restaurant.”​

Georgia prosecutor reports racist threats, abuse over Trump election investigation​

“I was glad that I didn’t have to change myself to fit into someone else’s … image of what it’s like to be a Chick-Fil-A worker,” Williams said. “…I was just glad that I was able to just stay true to myself and move on and find somewhere else to work that’s fine with how I look.”​

​

“It’s a protective style for us,” said her mother, Nina Burch. “There was nothing eccentric about the color that was in her hair. So I think maybe there needs to be some sensitivity training about what people can and cannot look like. But that just sounds so crazy to say because who’s to say what anybody can look like based on their race?”​

​

Since her decision to quit, Williams says she’s filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.​

MSN

Companies can have rules for how their employees look. She broke the rules.

 

[The Duke]

It hasta bee da dreds mon...she been smokin' da ganja

That ain't dreads, that's a braided horsehair weave.

Cleaner than dreads by far. She couldn't tuck it, or what?

Owait! Wtf?! For the color? Oh hell no!

Well, that's ridiculous. She got her a suit now. One she deserves to win, IMO

That's absolutely ridiculous. 1-800 # Law

That's very wrong. Wtf is wrong with people?

 

[SweetSue92]

She's only 16 years old and she has already been impacted by the type of systemic racism that we've been describing. It's not being called the N-word, or having a cross burned on your lawn. That's overt racism and easily understood. But there are a multitude of microaggressions and subtle forms of racism that we as Black people endure throughout our lives. We don't have to go looking for it, it finds us since the damage of founding this country on the premise of white superiority is still engrained in many parts and many of the people of the U.S. today.

I remember we were discussing the issues that Black hair causes for some white racists and many of the posters here did not believe it or claimed we were exaggerating or playing the race card. You all don't see it because you don't experience it due to not being Black but it still persists.

I'm glad she filed a complaint with the EEOC. I hope they step up and do their job properly so that this young lady doesn't have to experience the second tier of racism - "justice denied".

By the way, I'm pretty sure by unnatural hair colors they were referring to the rainbow colors that celebrities such as Megan Rapino and Billie Ilish sport, pink and lime green.

HARRISBURG, N.C. (WJZY) — Sixteen-year-old Autumn Williams is still trying to understand how the blonde hair color in her braids was deemed unnatural at her Chick-Fil-A job.​

​

She says she felt singled out and embarrassed.​

​

She’d only been working at a Chick-Fil-A in Harrisburg, North Carolina, for three months before she was pulled aside for an apparent uniform violation. What she was told caught her caught off guard.​

​

“She was like, ‘Hey, one of our supervisors came by and said they noticed blonde in your hair, and he asked that you leave and come back when it’s taken out since it’s an unnatural color to you,'” Williams said.​

​

This is the color Williams says she had at the time:​

​

(Courtesy of Autumn Williams)© Provided by WNCN Raleigh​

“I don’t know what blonde is in my hair because my braids were brown, and there wasn’t blonde in them, (even though) my natural hair color is blonde,” Williams said. “And the guy, when I had orientation, he never said anything about my hair color or it being an issue.”​

​

She claims other coworkers also had unnatural hair colors, but she was singled out.​

​

When she asked her human resources supervisor for clarification about unnatural hair colors, he referred Williams to the employee handbook.​

​

But the handbook doesn’t specify what unnatural colors are.​

​

She says the lack of clarification led to her quitting.​

​

Chick-Fil-A responded to a request for comment, saying:​

​

“The operator reached out to (Autumn) Williams today and had a good conversation. ​

In further detail, the operator explained that the policy was misinterpreted and said Williams was not terminated and she’s more than welcome to come back and work at the restaurant.”​

Georgia prosecutor reports racist threats, abuse over Trump election investigation​

“I was glad that I didn’t have to change myself to fit into someone else’s … image of what it’s like to be a Chick-Fil-A worker,” Williams said. “…I was just glad that I was able to just stay true to myself and move on and find somewhere else to work that’s fine with how I look.”​

​

“It’s a protective style for us,” said her mother, Nina Burch. “There was nothing eccentric about the color that was in her hair. So I think maybe there needs to be some sensitivity training about what people can and cannot look like. But that just sounds so crazy to say because who’s to say what anybody can look like based on their race?”​

​

Since her decision to quit, Williams says she’s filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.​

MSN

Question:

Was anyone, in the entire world, gonna walk in to Chick-fil-A and say, "You know I was gonna get chicken and waffle fries, but the Black teen serving me had blonde braids so nah. I'm going hungry."

The manager failed to see the big picture. He failed to even imagine that if one person was found to reject CFA chicken and waffle fries over blonde braids, said person does not deserve CFA anyway.

 

[The Duke]

"There are some people, mainly white racists, who believe Black people do not, can not, but more importantly, should not have blond hair"

I've never even heard that canard before, LIAR!!!!

Also I know two albino "blacks" who are frankly great lads...or were when I knew them. That was over 30 years ago!!!

Greg

Lucky you. The albino I grew up with was always a racist dumbass dickhead. Not sad that one's out of my life now.

Could not get away from this asshole for 15 years. All through school and college too, sonofabitch! Grr!

He was a lot like IM2.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Companies can have rules for how their employees look. She broke the rules.

Yes, companies can have rules, but they cannot be discriminatory.

If you have a company and you believe that blonde hair is an "unnatural" color for a Black person, then you're the one in the wrong, not your employee who changed or lightened her hair color to blonde.

It only takes a little bit of brain power to figure out what they don't want - pink, blue, green, purple, etc. Those are "unnatural" colors on anyone and is probably what that policy meant, until someone decided they could dictate what colors constitute "natural" when it comes to Black people.

 

[The Duke]

Yes, companies can have rules, but they cannot be discriminatory.

If you have a company and you believe that blonde hair is an "unnatural" color for a Black person, then you're the one in the wrong, not your employee who changed or lightened her hair color to blonde.

It only takes a little bit of brain power to figure out what they don't want - pink, blue, green, purple, etc. Those are "unnatural" colors on anyone and is probably what that policy meant, until someone decided they could dictate what colors constitute "natural" when it comes to Black people.

The hair color thing in that girl's case is redonkulous. Idk what somebody was thinking, but it damn sure wasn't right.

Now hol' up! Blonde hair IS unnatural for a black girl, but in what way does that affect her ability to do her job?

Not ary a bit. Who would care about that?

Also, green hair is unnatural for a hispanic girl, and pink hair is unnatural for a white girl.

They shouldn't have messed with her for that. Believing blonde hair for a black person is not natural is

not the same as it effecting their job. That's wrong. I KNOW blonde is not natural for a black girl, but don't care.

It's their hair. Big deal. Should not affect employment.

 

[The Duke]

Yes, companies can have rules, but they cannot be discriminatory.

If you have a company and you believe that blonde hair is an "unnatural" color for a Black person, then you're the one in the wrong, not your employee who changed or lightened her hair color to blonde.

It only takes a little bit of brain power to figure out what they don't want - pink, blue, green, purple, etc. Those are "unnatural" colors on anyone and is probably what that policy meant, until someone decided they could dictate what colors constitute "natural" when it comes to Black people.

Blonde hair is an unnatural color for a black person. That's really not disputable. I don't see why it's a big deal, though.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Yes, companies can have rules, but they cannot be discriminatory.

If you have a company and you believe that blonde hair is an "unnatural" color for a Black person, then you're the one in the wrong, not your employee who changed or lightened her hair color to blonde.

It only takes a little bit of brain power to figure out what they don't want - pink, blue, green, purple, etc. Those are "unnatural" colors on anyone and is probably what that policy meant, until someone decided they could dictate what colors constitute "natural" when it comes to Black people.

Does it discriminate? No. It says ALL WORKERS must have natural hair color.

And by natural, I would suppose that a person walking in to their store would KNOW that the person hasn't dyed their hair. Pretty obvious she has.

 

[The Duke]

Does it discriminate? No. It says ALL WORKERS must have natural hair color.

And by natural, I would suppose that a person walking in to their store would KNOW that the person hasn't dyed their hair. Pretty obvious she has.

I reckon girls can't color their hair if they work for Chik-Fil-A? That's an odd policy.

What girls DON'T color their hair? Not many.
It's what girls do.

 

[Thunk]

That's absolutely ridiculous. 1-800 # Law

Or she could call 1-800-axe-gary