BOSTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that exempting an employee from company grooming rules doesn't constitute an undue hardship to the business.
The ruling came in a legal fight between a Jiffy Lube shop and one of its employees, who adheres to the Rastafarian religion and refused to shave his beard or cut off his distinctive dreadlocks.
The Boston Globe said Wednesday that Bobby Brown was relegated to a lower-paying job in the oil-change shop because management did not want him interacting with customers due to his appearance.
The Supreme Judicial Court Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling that a company had the right to dictate its employees' public image and that exempting Brown from the policy would constitute an "undue hardship."
The court said in its ruling, ""We … conclude that an exemption from a grooming policy cannot constitute an undue hardship as a matter of law."
The opinion said using "public image" to determine which employees deal with customers could lead to a slippery slope that favors members of so-called majority religions.
