Brian Ashe Quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle

In the September 13 "Mind your business" section of  The San Francisco Chronicle, Brian Ashe is quoted in response to a reader’s question on why companies hire people with what he considers to be unprofessional body piercings and hairstyles.

The columnist replied that "employers can't impose a dress code that discriminates illegally on the basis of protected categories such as race, gender or religion. But beyond that, companies can pretty much adopt any dress code that makes sense for health, safety or general business reasons. Nearly all retail businesses require employees to dress in a way that won't offend their customers. But who are their customers? And what do they consider offensive? That varies dramatically from place to place and changes over time."

"There was a time when two earrings in one ear or a pink strand of hair would have been thought radical -- and now it's as common as can be," said Brian Ashe, an employment lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw in San Francisco.

"Small businesses also have to balance their ideal dress code with the realities of the job market," said the columnist. "And employers who rely on young workers to fill entry-level jobs in hip urban areas such as San Francisco often don't have the luxury of banning piercings or tattoos, even if they wanted to do so."