The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act” (H.R. 2116), a bill that would prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and other venues based on an individual’s hairstyle or hair texture that is commonly associated with a person’s race or national origin.
And while the CROWN Act, which passed the House largely along party lines, probably does not have the votes to pass in the closely divided Senate, its approval by the House highlights the fact that the issue is catching on, with 12 states having passed similar laws just over the last three years that amend their civil rights statutes’ definition of race to include hairstyle.
Accordingly, we thought this would be a good time to review the state of nondiscrimination law with respect to employer policies regarding hairstyles as well as the impact on the broader issue of employer grooming standards.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.