Alabama District Court Dismisses EEOC Claims Challenging Employer’s No Dreadlocks Policy

Employing reasoning adopted by a number of other courts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama recently dismissed the EEOC’s claim that an employer’s policy prohibiting employees from wearing dreadlocks violated Title VII – the case of EEOC v. Catastrophe Management Solutions, No. 13-00476-CB-M, 2014 WL 47758 (S. D. Ala. Mar. 27, 2014). In its ruling, the Court confirmed that “employers’ grooming policies are outside the purview of Title VII,” and it further rejected the EEOC’s argument that the definition of race under Title VII should be read expansively to encompass more than immutable physical characteristics unique to a particular group.   

To read this blog post click here