Student accuses temp agency with ‘no dreadlocks and beards’ policy of discrimination

A student has accused a temping agency of ‘discrimination’ after being told she couldn’t wear dreadlocks.

Cheyanne Arnold, who studies at Birmingham, told HuffPost UK that she called the ‘hospitality staff supplier’ TempTribe when she noticed an ‘ultimate guide’ on its website after she applied for a job.

The guide instructed that men needed to be ‘clean shaven’, and the hair must be ‘short and neat: no ponytails, no braids, no dreadlocks'.

Cleanly shaven would exclude Muslim men, who grow their beard for religious reasons, as well as other faiths who have similar directives in their religion.

The 22-year-old did in fact have dreadlocks, and when she said as much to the employee, she was told her application would not be successful.

She said she was ‘really upset':

I had never gone through that before. I was just thinking: 'How would someone else feel if say they had a headscarf, how they would feel if you told them no?’

Arnold added that after she emailed them, the student was told that the company ‘always accepted braids’ and:

Dreadlocks have been an area of difficulty as many of our clients in hotels have not allowed them.

Following Huffington Post’s request for comment, the ultimate guide was changed and a line was added:

'Please note that we can make an exception on religious grounds for all of the above’, it read, referencing the ‘no braids, no dreadlocks’ rule.

indy100 has contacted TempTribe for comment.

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